Harry Potter and the Sun Filled Days
by Belcris
Summary: The war is over. Voldemort is finally gone. Harry managed to survive. Ron and Hermione finally snogged. So if everything is going perfect... what do they do now?
1. Day One

DAY ONE 

Harry woke up as a thin ray of sunlight passed over his eyes. Evidently he had forgotten to close the drapes the night before. Or had it been just that morning? It was all rather a jumble to him now. He was not even sure how he had gotten to the Gryffindor common room after all the chaos of the previous night. All he remembered was a soft and soothing voice telling him it was going to be all right now and that he could finally rest. Opening his eyes, Harry looked around the room and realized at once that he was not wearing his glasses.

"_Accio_, glasses," he thought as he rested his hand on the wand that was still tucked in his belt.

To his surprise, the spell actually worked. Normally he had to be actually holding his wand for a spell to work properly. This time he heard his glasses whistle through the air and then felt them strike his chest hard enough to sting slightly. Putting them on, Harry rubbed his chest for a moment but soon forgot about the pain as he realized what he had thought was a pillow was someone's lap.

"How beautiful," Harry thought as he looked up into the sleeping face of Ginevra Molly Weasley, his Ginny. The sunlight that had woken him was also falling on her hair and causing it to shine like molten copper. Harry could not help but just look up at her face and wonder how he had ever managed to be without her for so long. He had thought it was all for the best when he had told her that they could no longer be together, but not a day had gone by that he had not ached to see her, to talk to her, to hold her close and tell her how much he loved her.

"I was a fool," Harry whispered to his sleeping angel. "Will you ever be able to forgive me?"

"Yes you were and of course I will," Ginny said opening her eyes to look at him with the bright chocolate brown eyes that he had missed so much. "But if you ever leave me again I'll hex you so bad you won't be able to walk for a week."

"Deal," was all Harry said before pulling her face down so that he could kiss her.

It was a wonderful way to wake up and they spent a few minutes, or an eternity, just enjoying the sensation of being with each other again. Sometimes they talked in soft half sentences, but mostly they just stared into each other's eyes and fell deeper and deeper in love than they had ever been before. Dumbledore had said that love was the most powerful magic, and Harry and Ginny were living proof that his words were absolutely true.

"Oi! Potter! You going to ask my permission to date my sister?" said Ron's voice suddenly.

Harry's nerves were still a bit on edge and he rolled off the couch and pulled his wand without even thinking about it. No matter how fast Harry moved, Ginny had moved even faster and was standing and standing with her wand pointed in her brother's face before Harry could even blink.

"Oh, and who says I need anyone's permission to do anything," Ginny growled in a very unladylike voice. "I can take care of myself you bloody prat."

Surprisingly, Ron just scooped his sister up in his arms and hugged her tightly to his chest as he laughed and kissed the top of her head. Taken by surprise by the unexpected reaction of her brother, Ginny let her wand fall to the ground and hugged him back just as tightly. Ron looked up over his sister's head and winked at Harry with a wide smile on his face.

"Well you sure told me then," Ron said pulling back and looking into Ginny's curious eyes. "Guess I don't have any say in this at all, do I?"

"Nope," Ginny said with a slight blush, "but thanks for caring."

"Take care of my sister, Harry," Ron said as he hugged Ginny again.

"I will," Harry said with a smile.

"That's so sweet," Hermione said from behind Harry.

Turning to look up at his second best friend in all the world, Harry could only smile and nod. Harry was pleased to see that Hermione looked absolutely radiant as she stared at Ron. There had always been a slight hardness to Hermione's eyes before; a hardness that Harry realized was due to the fact that she was not letting herself feel certain emotions about a certain red haired wizard. Now the hardness was gone from her eyes and instead, for the first time that Harry could remember, he realized just how much she really did love Ron.

"Yeah," Harry said as he walked over next to Hermione so he could wrap an arm around her shoulder. "Nothing like seeing a brother and sister who love each other as much as those two do, don't you think, sis?"

It took Hermione a second to figure out what Harry was saying to her. Then it was as if the floodgates had open and she was crying her eyes out as Harry laughed softly and hugged her tightly.

"You are the brother I always wanted," Hermione said in a watery voice as she cried into Harry's chest.

"Blimey," chuckled Harry. "I tell you you're like a sister to me and you start crying. Anyone would think I had just threatened you with a trip to Azkaban."

Whatever Hermione was going to say was forgotten as Ron and Ginny joined in the hug and Harry found himself at the center of his first ever real family hug. Tears of joy pouring down all of their faces, each of them knew that they were exactly where they were supposed to be, and no one was ever going to separate them again.

"We made it," whispered Ron.

"Yes we did," answered Hermione.

"Now what do we do?" asked Ginny.

"We enjoy the sun filled days of our lives," answered Harry, and they all knew that he was right.


	2. Fred

FRED

As it turned out, Harry and the others had slept through most of the day in their exhaustion from the previous night. Harry felt slightly guilty about it because he felt responsible for everything that had happened during the final battle. There was also that still-nagging voice in his head that said it was his fault that so many had died trying to get him to his final confrontation with Tom. His parents, Sirius, Dumbledore, Remus, Tonks, Fred, and Colin had all paid the ultimate price in addition to so many other dead and wounded. Even though Harry felt as if one gigantic weight had been lifted from his shoulders, another now seemed to have taken its place.

Ginny seemed to know exactly what Harry was thinking and she did her best to distract him as much as possible with frequent hugs and kisses. She could tell, however, that Harry was not going to be so easily distracted from what he felt was his sole responsibility. Eventually, she knew he was going to have to face his feelings and his fears but she just wanted him to be happy for a little while, even if it might not last for long. To that end she curled up on Harry's lap as he, Ron, and Hermione talked about the events of the previous night.

"So you managed to get the thing put in the place without anyone seeing you do it," Ron said casting a nervous glace in Ginny's direction.

"Yes, Ron," Harry said with a dry laugh. "I put the wand back in Dumbledore's tomb."

"What wand?" asked Ginny.

"The wand I won from Tom," Harry said softly. "It was Dumbledore's wand and I returned it to him after things quieted down last night."

"Harry," Hermione said quietly. "Should we be talking about that wand?"

Harry hugged Ginny tightly before saying, "I have no secrets from Ginny now."

"No secrets," Ginny thought. How many secrets had Harry kept from her then? There was the wand of course, and there was also the reason why Tom had thought Harry dead when he was only pretending. Other than that, how many other secrets were there? Ginny had heard all about his breaking into Gringotts, but now that she thought about it, she had no idea why he had done it. Maybe now Harry was going to tell her the whole story.

"Harry," Ginny said quietly, "you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."

"Thank you," he said kissing her forehead. "I will tell you everything but not right now, OK?"

"Ok," she agreed and hugged him tightly to show that she understood his need to just be Harry for a little while longer.

Hermione was about to say something else but was interrupted when the portrait door opened and Percy walked through it. Gone was Percy's pompous attitude and it its place was a sense of despair and loss that Harry could feel from across the room. Ron evidently sensed it as well because he walked over to his brother and without saying a word, wrapped his arms around his older sibling to comfort him.

"If only I hadn't been such a monumental prat," Percy sobbed into his little brother's shoulder, "maybe Fred would still be here."

"Don't be a git," Ron said in a husky voice. "You being a prat had nothing to do with it."

"Yeah," said Ginny as she got off of Harry's lap and walked over to join her brothers. "You being a horse's arse had nothing to do with what happened to Fred."

"Ginny," Percy said in his regular tone of voice. "Mother would not approve of your use of such language."

"Now that's the prat we know and love," Ginny said with a smile as she hugged both of her brothers tightly. "Put the silly notion that you are responsible for Fred out of your mind."

"Yeah," Harry said as he stood up suddenly. "If anyone is responsible for Fred, it's me."

The three Weasleys turned to look at Harry with shock on their faces. Even Hermione seemed surprised at Harry's words. They all watched him as he suddenly walked towards the portrait door and out of the common room. Ginny was the first to follow and she quickly caught up to Harry and grabbed his hand in hers.

"Harry," she said fiercely, "what happened to Fred was not your fault either."

Harry continued to make his way down the hallway to one of his favorite shortcuts as if he did not hear her. Ginny looked over her shoulder and saw that Ron and Hermione were right behind them with Percy a little ways behind. She looked pleadingly at Ron to say something to make Harry listen but Ron just shook his head and followed silently.

"I may not be directly responsible," Harry said as they exited the shortcut and headed towards the Great Hall, "but I am at least partially responsible for every life that has been taken by Tom and his followers since the night he tried to kill me."

"No, Harry," Hermione said quietly from behind them. "That's just not true. Voldemort and his Death Eaters were evil and what they did has nothing to do with you."

Harry laughed quietly as he stopped at the doorway to the Great Hall and turned to look back at Hermione. Ginny was surprised to see a gentle smile on his face that she could tell was not forced.

"Thanks for saying so, Hermione," Harry said warmly. "We both know that it's a crock of shite, but thanks for trying anyway. Tom and I are both responsible for all of this and we have been ever since the night that Trelawney gave the prophecy that said '_neither can live while the other survives'."_

Without a further word, Harry turned and pushed open the doors to the Great Hall. The bodies of the fallen had been removed, but the room still felt colder than it had ever felt before. The House tables were now filled with students and their families. It was sad to see that while some of these groups were so happy to be together and that none of them had died, other groups wept bitterly for the loss of a friend, child, or even a parent.

Amongst all of these people Ginny saw her family sitting at the Gryffindor table. Her mother was leaning against her father's shoulder and he in turn had an arm wrapped protectively around his wife. George sat on her other side and as tears freely poured from his eyes. He held his mother's hand in his to comfort her. Bill and Fleur sat across from his parents and Ginny could tell he was just as distraught as they were.

Harry had noticed the Weasleys as well and he walked purposefully over towards them. Ginny, still holding tightly on to Harry's hand, could feel her own tears starting to fall as they drew nearer to her parents. The thought that Fred would never make her laugh again was almost more than she could stand.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," Harry said quietly as they reached the red haired family.

Molly spun around and leapt to her feet to feet to embrace Harry before he could say another word. Harry was a bit shocked by this as he had fully expected Mrs. Weasley to be angry with him and to blame him for Fred's death. Yet here she was hugging him so tightly that his ribs felt like they would crack at any moment. It was almost as if she did not blame him for everything.

"Oh Harry, dear," she said softly. "I'm so glad you're alright. I was so worried when you didn't come down. Arthur was just telling me I should be a little more patient."

Suddenly Harry could not stop himself from crying and Mrs. Weasley was hugging him even tighter and whispering in his ear, "Harry, dear, none of this is your fault and don't you go trying to say it is."

"But," Harry started to say, only to be cut off again by Mrs. Weasley.

"You listen to me, Harry Potter," she said softly. "The only person responsible for this is Voldemort. That evil man caused all of this."

"The prophecy said," Harry began again but was once more cut off, this time by Arthur Weasley.

"Tosh to the prophecy, Harry," said the red haired patriarch of the Weasley clan. "That bastard was killing innocent people long before you were born. If you ask me, you are forgetting the most important part of that prophecy."

"What part is that?" Harry asked as Mrs. Weasley finally let go of him so that he could stand up and look her husband in the face.

"'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches'," Mr. Weasley said quietly. "It doesn't say the one who will take responsibility for all of the Dark Lord's evil deeds approaches. It says that the person that would free us approaches. That's you, son, and I for one want to say thank you."

Harry suddenly realized that everyone around him was standing and looking at him. Not just the Weasleys, but all the students and their families, not to mention members of the faculty and members of the Ministry of Magic, were standing and looking right at Harry. He did not know who started it, but suddenly people were bowing to him and whispering 'thank you, Harry,' so softly that it sounded like dry grass blowing in the wind.

George was the only one not saying thank you. Instead he walked over and put his arm around Harry's shoulder tightly. Harry glanced over and was surprised to see that the tears were now gone and a smile had replaced them on George's face.

"I lost my brother last night," George said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "You know what that means Potter."

"What, George?" Harry asked quietly, dreading the anger he knew must be coming.

"Well, Potter," George continued gently, "means you are going to have to take his place as my brother. What you think of that idea, Ron?"

"Brilliant, George," Ron said walking up to join the growing crowd of red haired Weasleys that were standing around Harry now.

"I whole heartedly agree with you, George," Percy said with a wide smile.

"Yeah," added Bill laying a hand on Harry's shoulder, "we need a better Seeker in the family since Charlie is such crap."

"Look who's talking," laughed Charlie. "Harry has to join just so we have someone smart enough not to try dancing with werewolves."

Suddenly, for the second time in one day, Harry was at the center of a massive family hug. Ginny was pressed tightly up against him by all the others and Harry could not help but focus on her as he was surrounded by so much love. He could hear Hermione crying again as Fleur tried to comfort her but it was what Ginny said that truly brought a smile to Harry's face and seemed to free his heart dread he had carried with him all day.

"Someday soon," Ginny whispered to him, "I'm going to force you to marry me just so you really will be a part of this family."

"Deal," Harry said as he smile down at her and enjoyed the love of his family.


	3. Teddy

TEDDY 

After a long talk with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, along with all of the rest of the Weasley family, Harry felt much better about himself and the part he had played in the previous night's battle. Although it would take some time for him to accept that he was not responsible for all of the deaths, the Weasleys all agreed that they would make sure that Harry understood that he was loved and appreciated, no matter what.

Surprisingly, Percy was the member of the Weasley family that seemed the most pleased that Harry was now considered to be a true part of the family. Harry would look at Percy and he could see the young boy he had met in his first year at Hogwarts. Gone were the haughty smirk and the cold indifference. All of the Weasleys seemed to notice the change in Percy and Harry was pleased to see that Mrs. Weasley acted as if nothing had ever changed between her and her third oldest son.

"Don't get me wrong," Ron said later as they were walking back up to the Gryffindor common room, "he's still a prat for the way he treated Mum and Dad, but at least he admits he's a prat now."

"Well I still say you should have at least me use the bat-bogey hex on him before you all decided to forgive him," Ginny said casually.

Ginny, it seemed, had decided that Harry's left hand now belonged to her because she had not let go of it since the Weasleys had all hugged him down in the Great Hall. Harry was not complaining though, because he felt that Ginny's hand fit perfectly in his own and he had no intention of ever letting go of it.

"Ginny," Hermione chided as she walked along, hand-in-hand with Ron. "You can't hex your own brother. What would your mother say?"

"Oh come on, Hermione," Ginny laughed, "even you wanted to hex him when he walked out on the family."

Hermione just blushed as everyone started laughing at the plain truth of Ginny's comment. They were still laughing as they finally reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and saw that someone was waiting for them. At first Harry was unsure of who it was until he noticed that it was a woman and that she was carrying a small bundle in her arms.

"Oh, God," Harry breathed as the laughter around him died suddenly. "Mrs. Tonks?"

"Hello, Harry," Andromeda Tonks said softly. "I have someone here who would like to meet his godfather."

Ginny could see that Mrs. Tonks had been crying a great deal. The poor woman's eyes were completely blood shot and so puffy they were nearly swollen shut . Ginny watched as Harry silently took his godson from the woman and held the child gently in his arms as if he had been doing it for years.

"Hello, Teddy," was all Harry managed to get out as he looked down at the child in his arms.

Teddy, who only a second before had been nearly bald except for a shock of mousy brown hair above his forehead, suddenly possessed a full head of thick and unkempt raven black hair just like his godfather's. When Harry smiled down at him, Teddy just smiled right back and looked up at them all with the same emerald green.

"He's going to be a powerful Metamorphmagus when he grows up," said Mrs. Tonks. "Dora couldn't change that fast until she was nearly five years old."

"It's his father's gift to him," Harry said softly. "Remus might have been a werewolf but he was also a very powerful wizard."

Andromeda stepped forward and hugged Harry as he held Teddy safely in his free arm. Andromeda was crying again and, handing Teddy to Ginny, Harry wrapped his arms around the sobbing woman and did his best to comfort her. He could feel her sadness pouring off her like raindrops upon his skin. Not only had she lost her husband in this war, but now she had lost her daughter as well. Harry had heard it many times before but now he understood the feeling that no parent should ever have to outlive their child.

"Andromeda," Harry finally said to the crying woman. "I need you to do me a favor."

Mrs. Tonks looked up at Harry through her tears before pulling herself together enough to say, "Anything, Harry."

"I need you to take care of Teddy for me," Harry said with a smile. "Make sure he has the type of life that I never did with the Dursleys so that I can be the type of godfather who spoils his godson rotten. Can you do that for me?"

Now Ginny and Hermione were crying again, and of course Ron was looking at them both as if they had gone round the bend. It was Andromeda Tonks that had stopped crying suddenly. Taking Teddy from Ginny, Mrs. Tonks kissed the infant's forehead and smiled for the first time that Harry could remember since he had seen her with her husband almost a year ago.

"I promise you, Harry," she said with fierce determination. "Teddy will be the happiest child possible and you will always be welcome at our home. I will make sure he knows all about his parents and how much they loved him."

"Good," Harry said with a smile.

They stood there for a few minutes longer talking and making plans for Harry to visit Teddy the following week. Hermione and Ginny both volunteered to babysit anytime Mrs. Tonks needed them and Ron promised that as soon as Teddy was old enough, he would personally teach Teddy how to play Quidditch. Of course Mrs. Tonks thought that might be a little ways off yet, but Harry promised her that they had all the time in the world.

When they finally all made their way back into the Gryffindor common room after their final farewells to Teddy and Mrs. Tonks, Harry felt remarkably better than he had earlier. Teddy had lost so much, and although he was far too young to realize what it was that he was missing, when he got older Harry would tell him all about his mother and father, and how much they had loved him, and what type of people they were. Teddy would know his parents loved him even if they were not there to tell him in person every day.

"Harry," Ginny said as she pulled him over to their favorite spot next to the fireplace. "That was a wonderful thing you did for her."

"I didn't just do it for her, Gin," Harry said as he sat down on the old battered chesterfield and pulled her down into his lap. "I did it for Teddy, Tonks, and Lupin as well. When I talked to Lupin about Teddy, Lupin told me that he was '_trying to make a world in which he could live a happier life_'."

"Harry," Ginny said slightly confused. "When did you talk to Lupin?"

"When I went to find Tom in the Forbidden Forest," Harry said simply.

"But Harry," Ginny said slightly worried now, "Lupin and Tonks were…"

"Dead by then," Harry continued for her. "I know."

Harry looked around the common room to make sure they were completely alone before touching his wand and thinking, "_Muffliato_."

Once again he was slightly surprised that his spell worked without needed the corresponding wand movement, but he could figure that out later. For now, the time had come to tell Ginny, and Ron and Hermione, the complete story about what had happened to him after he had left the school to find Tom in the forest.

Speaking slowly and softly, Harry told them all about Snape's memories and the secret of the final Horcrux. How he had warned Neville about Nagini and how it was important that the snake should die if Neville had the chance. Then he told Ginny about how much he had wanted to say something to her as she had held the injured girl's hand.

"She's ok," Ginny said quietly. "Neville's Gran found us and she carried the girl to the castle so Madam Pomfrey could heal her wounds."

Harry smiled and hugged Ginny tightly at the news before he continued his story. He explained that he had finally realized what "_I open at the close_" meant and he had been able to open the Snitch that Dumbledore had left him. Tears threatened to blind him again but he managed to tell them about his conversation with his parents, Sirius, and Lupin. Ginny was a bit confused about how the ring had the power to bring back the dead, but Hermione quickly explained to her about the Deathly Hallows and what role they played in the story.

"Where's the ring now, Harry?" Ginny asked suddenly excited. "We could use it to..."

"It's gone, Gin," Harry said simply. "I don't know where it is and even if I did, I would never tell anyone. Only the dead should ever be able to choose if they want to remain here. We do not have the right to call them back."

Ginny looked like she was about to argue but then she sighed and nodded her head in agreement. Harry hugged her tightly for a moment and then continued on with his story. He had finally reached the part that he had dreaded telling his friends about. Hermione was soon in tears and Ron stared at the fireplace as he held her shaking frame in his arms. Ginny was trembling in Harry's arms but he did not stop talking. He felt that if he stopped talking now, he would never start again and they had the right to know what had happened.

Hermione looked stunned when he told them about his conversation with Dumbledore. Ron just beamed that his hero had managed to surprise them all one last time. Harry was greatly relieved that his two best mates and the woman he loved seemed to understand everything he was saying.

Harry paused for a moment to think about what had just gone through his mind. _The woman he loved_. When had he finally admitted that he loved her? Harry did not think it really mattered and as he finished telling about how Mrs. Malfoy had helped him, he held Ginny even tighter in his arms. Unlike his sixth year at Hogwarts, Harry was not going to waste any time telling her how he felt about her now.

"That's all of it," he said finally. "You know the rest of it from the time Hagrid carried me out of the woods till now."

Looking out the windows of the common room, Harry could see that it had grown dark outside. The first day of a whole new life was drawing to a close. So many things had happened in that one day, and Harry already felt as if a thousand years separated him from the events he had just described to his friends. Today was a new day and this was a new life for Harry to live.

"I have one question, Harry," Ron said suddenly. "If Voldemort is dead and the war is over, what are you going to do now?"

"Well," Harry said laughing as he lifted the Muffliato spell and pulled Ginny even closer. "I thought I might start off by telling your sister just how much in love with her I am, and then snogging her senseless for a few hours. And before you give me a hard time about it you might think about doing the same with my sister there."

Harry was suddenly surrounded by three brightly blushing people and he could not help but laugh. It felt good to let go and be with his best mates in the entire world. There might be a few faces missing that he wished he could see again, but at least now he knew that he would indeed see them again someday.

"You love me?" asked Ginny looking up into Harry's eyes.

"With all my heart," Harry replied truthfully.

"Wicked. I love you, too, Harry," Ginny said before pushing him back down onto the floor so that she could look down at him with a wicked grin on her face. "Now what was that part about snogging me senseless for a few hours?"

Ron felt it was best if he and Hermione left quickly at that point. Hermione agreed but she had other reasons besides not wanting to see Harry and Ginny together. Hermione cast a Silencing charm around the young couple and then a Disillusionment charm as well. Her brother and his girlfriend deserved some private time together. Ron just nodded as he led Hermione up to the boys' dormitory. Harry's suggestion had been a good one after all.


	4. Ginny

GINNY 

Harry woke up first thing the next morning feeling completely refreshed. That could have had something to do with the beautiful young lady that was currently resting her head on his chest and snoring ever so slightly. Whatever the cause, Harry was not going to complain about it.

"Ginny," Harry whispered softly.

"Five more minutes, mum," Ginny mumbled.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley," Harry said in his best impersonation of Mrs. Weasley, "you get up right this minute and give your boyfriend a good morning snog."

Harry was never sure if it was the thought of Ginny's mother catching her sleeping with a boy or the idea of her mother telling her to snog someone that woke Ginny up so fast but in either case, Ginny was instantly awake and sitting bolt upright. Ginny grabbed for her jumper and was about to say something before she realized that it was Harry that had spoken and not her mother.

Their time together the night before had been very intense but they had stopped just short of going too far. Harry had mixed feelings about that. On the one hand Harry knew that they were not ready for a more intimate relationship but that did not stop him from thinking Ginny looked beautiful in just her knickers and a rumpled jumper.

"That was not funny, Harry Potter," Ginny scolded him as she bushed furiously and playfully slapped his chest.

"Oh I don't know," he said pulling her back down into his arms again. "I thought it was pretty funny, Gin."

Ginny settled back into his arms without protest and lightly traced little circles on Harry's chest. Harry realized he wanted to wake up like this every day for the rest of his life. Hugging Ginny tightly in his arms he buried his face in the top of her head and thanked God for the fact that she was there with him now.

"We'll see how funny you think it is the first time she really does catch us together like this," Ginny said mischievously.

Harry could not help laughing even though he realized it would be a very interesting morning if Mrs. Weasley did catch him with her daughter. Then again, he could put up with a few hexes and a harsh word or two in order to be with Ginny. He had, after all, just defeated the darkest wizard of all time, so one enraged mother was not going to be that bad. At least, that was what he hoped, considering Molly Weasley had managed to defeat Bellatrix Lestrange, a feat that no one had managed to achieve before.

Thoughts of Sirius and Tonks immediately came to mind when thinking of Bellatrix. She had managed to kill two people that Harry loved, not to mention her countless other victims over the years. How appropriate it felt that Bellatrix, who thought nothing of destroying families, including her own, should in turn be defeated by a woman whose entire life revolved around protecting her family and those she loved.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"

_Brilliant, Mrs. Weasley_, Harry thought with a silent chuckle before turning his attention back to Ginny.

"We'll cross that bridge when we have to," Harry said before he decided he had waited long enough to kiss the woman he loved.

It was probably thirty minutes later when Harry's stomach gave a loud rumble and they broke apart laughing. They scrambled to find all of their clothes and eventually made their way up to their respective dormitories to clean up and shower before heading down to the Great Hall for some breakfast. As he entered his old dormitory Harry figured that from the amount of clothing that was tossed around the room, Ron and Hermione had probably taken him up on his advice the previous night.

_Good for them_, Harry thought as he walked into the bathroom to take a long shower.

When he was finally clean and dressed, Harry headed back down to wait for Ginny in the common room. He noticed almost immediately that he had overlooked the Silencing charm and Disillusionment charm that had been placed around Ginny and him the previous night. It felt like Hermione's work and touching his wand again, Harry ended both spells with a silent "_Finite._"

Harry could not help it now; he had to wonder what was going on with his magic and this sudden ability to know who had cast a spell. He was reminded of Dumbledore's ability to feel magic in the cave where Tom had hidden the locket. Was this what Dumbledore had meant? Harry wondered where he had picked up this ability, not to mention that he seemed to only have to touch his wand to cast a spell.

He was just about to experiment with his newfound abilities when Ginny came down the stairs from the girls' dormitory. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a school shirt that Harry realized was one of his since it was several sizes too large for her. She looked so beautiful to him and his heart ached with the thought that he had been separated from her for so long.

"Don't stare, Harry," Ginny said blushing.

"I can't help it, Gin," Harry said as he wrapped his arms around her and looked down into her beautiful brown eyes. "You are just so beautiful."

"I bet you say that to all the girls," she said playfully.

"Never," Harry said with a smile. "You're the only girl for me, now and forever."

Ginny had been about to say something but Harry silenced her with a kiss that was so passionate that Ginny was sure it lasted a year. Nothing mattered to her right at that moment. Her mother could have walked in and Ginny would not have cared in the least. All that mattered was Harry and his lips on hers. When they finally broke apart it took Ginny a few moments for her head to stop spinning.

"By the way, Ms. Weasley," Harry said playfully. "Where in the world did you get that shirt you are wearing?"

"Oh, this," Ginny asked as her face turned red. "I borrowed it from your room right before Bill and Fleur's wedding while Hermione was packing your things."

"I see, and why did you want one of my shirts?" Harry asked as he leaned down to kiss Ginny's now bright red neck.

"Well," Ginny said breathlessly, "I figured while you were away I would still have your arms around me while I slept."

"Oh, so you've been wearing one of my shirts to bed?"

Ginny just nodded as Harry continued to nibble on her neck. He rather liked the idea of Ginny wearing one of his school shirts to bed and the image it brought to mind was incredibly sexy.

"Well you hold on to that shirt," Harry whispered in her ear, "because I'm going to want to see you in it some night."

"Harry," Ginny said blushing even redder and slapping his arm playfully. "What kind of girl do you think I am?"

"The kind that I am madly in love with," Harry instantly replied as he once again gave her a kiss that made Ginny's whole body vibrate with excitement.

"Oi! Can't you two stop ever stop snogging," called Ron as he and Hermione walked down the stairs from the boys' dormitory.

"Ron," Hermione said in a firm tone of voice. "Who was it that was snogging me until nearly dawn this morning?"

"Oh… yeah… right," Ron said with a slightly embarrassed glance at his sister and Harry who were now laughing.

"Yeah, Ron," Harry said trying to sound like an over protective brother. "I hope you treated my sister with all the respect she deserves and didn't just chuck clothes every which way on your way to your bed with her."

Ginny was roaring with laughter now. Ron and Hermione both looked as if someone had just doused them in a fresh bottle of red ink and Hermione was looking down at her feet as if she had just noticed they were there. Ginny wasted no time however in running over and grabbing Hermione's hand so she could lead the older girl out the portrait hole. Harry figured they needed some quality girl time so that was ok.

"Well, mate," Ron said finally as he and Harry headed after the girls. "I'm really happy about you and Ginny getting back together. You two breaking up was really hard on her."

"I know and I will never do anything like that to her ever again," Harry said looking over at his best mate. "I'm happy for you as well. You and Hermione make a great couple."

"Yeah," Ron laughed, "when we aren't fighting with each other. Then again, I always have thought she was beautiful when she was angry. Now I get to fight with her and then make up afterwards. How great is that?"

"You're mental, you are," Harry said clapping Ron on the shoulder. "Least now I know why you picked so many stupid fights with her."

"You're catching on," Ron said with a wink.

"Then shall we just consider it a given that should either of us hurt the other's sister that we will do bodily damage to the other without taking any joy in it," asked Harry in a pseudo-serious tone of voice.

"Works for me, mate. And don't worry about my brothers;" Ron said with a little chuckle, "they're terrified of Ginny's Bat-Bogey hex so they wouldn't dare lay a finger on you."

Harry could not help but laugh at the thought of the fierce Weasley sons cowering before a sixteen year old girl. Maybe that was one of the reasons he loved her so much, the fact that she could take care of herself. She was not afraid to stand up to anyone if she thought they needed to be put in their place, not even her own family.

Rounding the last corner before they reached the doors to the Great Hall, Harry saw Hermione and Ginny talking together in a mix of whispers and girlish giggles. Almost as if it was planned, he and Ron both whistled softly and watched as both girls turned to them with smiles on their faces. As they joined the girls, Harry could not help but be thankful that they finally had all the time in the world to just be happy.


	5. Kingsley

KINGSLEY 

Upon entering the Great Hall Harry was surprised to see that it had been completely repaired since the final battle. The smell of dust and blood had been replaced with the delicious smells of food and fresh tea. The room also felt much warmer than it had the last time Harry had been inside it. All around he could see students and their families but instead of tears and looks of abject loss, now there were smiles and the sound of laughter.

"Life goes on," Harry thought to himself. "No matter how dark the night may be, dawn always comes to chase away the bad dreams."

The four friends made their way over to the Gryffindor table to sit with Ron and Ginny's family. The Weasleys also seemed to have cheered up a bit since the previous day. George still seemed quieter than he ever had been before but Harry could not say that really surprised him much. How long it would take George to truly smile again? Harry did not know but he suspected it would be far longer than just a few days before the memory of Fred did not cause George to grieve.

"Oh, Harry," Mr. Weasley said as Harry approached. "Kingsley has been looking for you and asked me to send you his way if I ran into you."

Harry took a seat next to George before saying, "any idea what he might want, Mr. Weasley?"

"Probably to give you a bloody medal," George said with a lighthearted smile.

"Language, George," Mrs. Weasley said firmly.

"I'm not sure, Harry," said the older man. "I think it has something to do with the memorial service this afternoon but I might be wrong."

"Oh, right," Harry said quietly. "Where is he, sir?"

"He said he would be in the Headmistress' office, Harry dear," replied Mrs. Weasley. "Oh, and Ron, Madam Pomfrey wants to see you about your arm and where you Splinched yourself."

"Alright, mum," Ron said around a mouth full of eggs. "I'll go see her when I'm done eating."

Without a further word Harry began filling his plate with food. He was not really hungry as he contemplated what the new Minister of Magic might want with him. He knew and liked Kingsley Shacklebolt but Harry had a few too many bad experiences with the Ministry of Magic to look at his upcoming meeting with anything like anticipation.

Ginny must have noticed Harry glancing at the scars on the back of his hand that said, 'I must not tell lies,' because she suddenly took his hand in hers and kissed the scar.

"Stop that," she chided softly. "Kingsley isn't like those other wankers."

"Ginny," Mrs. Weasley said disapprovingly, "watch your language."

"Yes, Mum," Ginny said innocently before whispering to Harry, "but they were a bunch of real plonkers."

Harry snorted so hard at Ginny's comment that he nearly inhaled his tea and it was a few moments before he could stop coughing.

"Thanks, Gin," he said leaning over and kissing Ginny softly on the lips. "You always know exactly what to say in order to cheer me up."

"That's my job, Mr. Potter," Ginny said with a playful wink. "Now go talk to Kingsley and get that out of the way."

"Yes, Gin," Harry said kissing her again before getting up from the table.

With a quick wave to his friends and family, Harry made his way up to the Head's office as quickly as he could. Along the way he noticed some of the repair work that was going on. Most of the windows had been repaired but there were still some areas of the castle's walls that were still blown open. As Harry approached the Dumbledore's old office, Harry noticed that the stone gargoyle that usually guarded the door seemed to be in even worse shape than it had a few nights ago.

"Are you ok," Harry asked out of a need to be polite more than anything else.

"Do ah bloody well look alright," asked the gargoyle's mouth which was lying on the floor next to its body. "Bloody magic is dissipatin' and ah can't find a single person willing t' do anything 'bout it."

Harry did not even bother to think about what he was going to do next. He pulled his wand from his belt and pointing it at the gargoyle he thought, _Reparo_. Suddenly the statue pulled itself together and all of the cracks that had covered its surface a moment before were suddenly gone. More shocking than the sudden repair of the gargoyle was the fact that the entire hallway, for thirty feet in either direction, was also suddenly repaired.

"'ow you do that," asked the gargoyle in evident shock. "No. Ah don't care. Ah owe you one, Mr. Potter. Any time you want in then you get in, no questions asked and no password needed."

"You're welcome, and thanks," said Harry as he tried to comprehend what had just happened.

As Harry stepped onto the moving stairway behind the gargoyle he could only wonder what was happening to him. His power seemed to be increasing dramatically, and skills that had previously eluded him were suddenly easy. Non-verbal spells that once had caused him problems now seemed the easiest things in the world to him. He had to talk to someone about this, and soon.

"Come in, Harry," called Dumbledore's voice from inside the office and suddenly Harry knew what to do.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir," Harry said as he opened the door. "Why is my magic suddenly so much more powerful?"

"Right to the point," Kingsley's deep voice said with mild surprise from where he sat with Professor McGonagall having tea. "Don't mind us, Harry. We'll just sit over here and pretend we understand what's going on, shall we?"

"Oh, sorry Minister and Professor McGonagall," Harry said slightly ashamed of his sudden rude behavior.

"Quite alright, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said with a slight smile. "We were just discussing that same topic with Albus."

"You were?" Harry said slightly confused.

"Yes we were, Harry," said the figure of Albus Dumbledore from his portrait. "I was just proposing a theory to Minister Shacklebolt and Minerva."

"Don't know that everyone needs to keep rubbing that title in my face," mumbled Kingsley under his breath.

"I'm sorry, Kingsley," Dumbledore said with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "I find that in my ongoing excitement concerning recent events, I am brimming with the desire to make little jokes from time to time."

"Potter," Professor McGonagall said quietly, "come join us for some tea?"

Kingsley pointed his wand at the space between himself and Harry and suddenly a large armchair identical to the other ones in the room appeared before Harry. Nodding his head in thanks, Harry sat down and took the cup of tea that Professor McGonagall offered him.

"As I was saying, Harry," Dumbledore continued, "it is my theory that your magical ability will seem to increase now that the piece of Tom's soul that you carried is gone. Rather like a patient who is suffering from a parasite, your abilities were being drained by Tom's soul to keep it intact."

"So it was acting like a vampire and sucking my power instead of my blood?" Harry asked, taking a sip of his tea.

Harry was actually rather proud that he was not ranting and raving about now. Since he had returned from the forest Harry had found that he was calmer about most things and was able to see the "big picture" far more easily. It now occurred to him that without Tom's soul hiding inside him anymore, he might very well find that there were many parts of his personality that seemed slightly different, such as his temper.

"Exactly right, Harry," Dumbledore said proudly. "Since your had you this little passenger from a very young age, it is my theory that your abilities grew even stronger to compensate."

"And now that Tom's sliver of soul is gone I am that much stronger because I no longer have it trying to bleed me dry," Harry finished thoughtfully.

It would explain so much about the things that Harry had noticed since waking up that first day after the battle. His abilities had not gotten stronger. For the first time in his life, he had just been able to use all of it instead of sharing it with an unwanted guest.

"Which is why when I repaired that gargoyle outside," he paused to take a sip of tea, "I also managed to repair all the damage for sixty feet around me?"

"Exactly, Harry," Dumbledore said with a smile. "You are now and forevermore your own man. I believe you will find that your freedom will bring you several unexpected rewards."

"Good for you, Harry," Kingsley said, clapping Harry on the shoulder.

"I am very happy for you, Potter," Professor McGonagall added with a trace of tears in her usually stern eyes.

"That brings me to one of the reasons we asked you to come see us," Kingsley said with a smile. "We were hoping that you might give some thought to taking your N.E.W.T. practical exams next week?"

"N.E.W.T. practical exams?" said Harry slightly puzzled. "I'm not sure I understand."

"Well, Potter," began Professor McGonagall but Harry cut her off.

"I'm not your student anymore," he said with a smile, "so could you please call me Harry?"

"I would be honored to, Harry," Professor McGonagall said with a very rare but very warm smile, "and from this point on you shall call me Minerva."

"It would also be my honor, Minerva," Harry said with his own warm smile for the woman that had been so good to him for so many years. "Now you were saying?"

"Yes, Harry," McGonagall continued. "There is a longstanding tradition that in times of hostility or open warfare, students who are of age can bypass their seventh year here at Hogwarts if they can pass their N.E.W.T. practical exams."

"It hasn't been used in years, not since the last Great War," Kingsley continued, "but the policy is still in the school charter and can be used at the Headmaster's, or in this case Headmistress', discretion."

"And I am choosing to invoke that authority," added McGonagall.

"What would I have to do," Harry asked, suddenly very excited by the concept, "and could Ron and Hermione also participate?"

"My very thought, Harry," said McGonagall as she refilled her cup. "I plan on talking with both of them, and a few others I feel are deserving, about it after we are done here. As for what is involved, you would be required to take a series of practical tests to see if you qualify for your N.E.W.T. levels. Talking with Ms. Granger, I believe that you will be able to pass all of them quite easily based upon your experiences of the last year."

"And once you are done taking them," continued Kingsley, "and whether you pass them or not to be honest, I want you to enroll in the Ministry's Auror training program. A great number of people are trying to pressure me into making you an Auror without the standard three years of training but I don't want to repeat the same types of mistakes that have been made by the Ministry in the past."

"I don't mind taking training, sir," Harry said, liking the idea very much. "I wouldn't want to just be handed a job as an Auror, I want to earn it."

"Well then, Harry," McGonagall said with a wide smile, "will we be seeing you next week to take your practical exams?"

Harry was unsure of what to say to the three smiling faces that were looking at him. It was too good to be true. He would get to complete school and become an Auror, just as he had always wanted to. Suddenly there were tears in his eyes again, but this time they were tears of joy.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant," he said smiling at everyone around him. "Sign me up 'cause I'm ready to start."

"I am glad to hear that, Harry," McGonagall said with her warmest smile yet.

After another hour's conversation, Harry left the Headmistress' office and made his way back towards Gryffindor tower. Kingsley had shared some of the details of his plans for changing the Ministry of Magic and had invited Harry to be a part of those changes. Harry still needed to complete the standard three years of Auror training but Kingsley had asked Harry to be an unofficial member of his advisory council, to which Harry had agreed. After Harry officially finished his training, Kingsley had hinted that he might have more in store for Harry but that would be something for them to discuss sometime in the future. Harry's only condition had been that he be allowed all the privacy he might want, to which Kingsley immediately agreed.

Halfway to the portrait of the Fat Lady, Harry saw Ron and Hermione walking hand in hand towards their meeting with Kingsley and McGonagall.

"Harry," Hermione called, "how did your meeting go?"

"It was fine," Harry said in an attempt to hide his excitement so as not to ruin the surprise for his two friends. "We'll talk about it before the memorial service."

"Alright, Harry," Ron agreed and with a wave from Hermione, they headed off towards the Headmistress' office.

Ginny was nowhere to be seen when Harry reached the Gryffindor common room so he made his way up to the boys' dormitory to change into the formal robes that Hermione had pulled from her handbag. How she had found the time during their travels to clean and press Harry's robes, he did not know, but he was happy he would not have to wear the ones that Neville had offered to let him borrow. Mud brown was not Harry's favorite color.

Once he was changed, Harry looked at the watch that Mrs. Weasley had given him and saw that it was almost time for lunch. The memorial service started at one o'clock, after lunch was done being served. Harry figured he would head on down to the Great Hall and wait for the others to join him there. He was sure at least Mrs. Weasley would be down there waiting for everyone to arrive.

"Harry," called Ginny as he reached the portrait hole. "Wait for me."

Ginny was just coming down the stairs that led to the girls' dormitories as Harry turned around. She wore her best school uniform and robes, which Harry noticed showed a bit more leg than was strictly allowed. It was her eyes that really caught Harry's attention as they sparkled and shone. He felt he could spend a lifetime just looking deeply into those marvelous chocolate brown eyes.

"Is that uniform strictly within school regulations," Harry joked as he wrapped his arms around Ginny's slim waist and kissed her softly.

"Maybe not but I am a growing girl and I seem to have outgrown this skirt," Ginny said innocently when Harry released her lips.

"Well hold on to that skirt," Harry whispered in her ear, "as I think it will go great with that shirt of mine some night."

"Harry Potter," Ginny giggled as she playfully swatted his arm. "Whatever has come over you today?"

"I seem to have fallen madly in love with a beautiful woman," Harry said kissing her again.

"Say it again," Ginny whispered when they separated. "Say you love me again."

"I do, Ginny," Harry said looking deep into her sparkling brown eyes. "I love you with all of my soul and now that it is mine, and mine alone, I love you even more than I ever did before."

"I love you, too," Ginny said with that same hard, blazing look that she had worn after the Quidditch final in Harry's sixth year, "and I'm never letting you go."

The kiss that Harry and Ginny shared then was the type of kiss that poets and authors write about. Women spend their lives dreaming of such a kiss and men pray that they may be the one to deliver. For Harry and Ginny, time stopped and the world no longer existed outside of their embrace. The only thing that mattered to them was that they were going to be together, forever.


	6. Snape

SNAPE 

Lunch in the Great Hall was a very subdued event that day. The House tables were filled, except for the Slytherin table. Sitting by themselves at the long table, the Malfoys looked rather uncomfortable as they ate in silence. Harry was a little surprised that they had remained at the school rather than return to their home to await the judgment of the Wizengamot as to their eventual fate. There was a part of Harry that still felt grateful to Narcissa Malfoy for her help to defeat Voldemort, even if it had been for her own reasons.

"I'll be right back," Harry said as he stood up from the table.

"Where you going, Harry?" Ron asked through a mouth full of potatoes.

"I have someone to talk to," Harry answered simply.

Making his way amongst the tables and amidst the constant stares of the people around him, Harry quietly made his way over to the Slytherin table. If Lucius Malfoy or his wife noticed, they made a good show of ignoring Harry as he reached the table and sat down across from them. Only Draco seemed to notice Harry at all and after a halfhearted attempt at his regular sneer, he looked down at his plate without saying a thing.

"Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy," Harry said quietly. "May I have a word with you?"

Lucius Malfoy did not look up at Harry but he and his wife both gave slight nods of their heads to indicate that they had heard him.

"We will never be best mates," Harry said bluntly, "but I wanted to say thank you to you, Mrs. Malfoy. Without your help I never would have been able to defeat Tom."

Lucius flinched slightly at the sound of his former master's name but Narcissa looked up at Harry with a sad smile on her face.

"I did what I had to do in order to save my son," she said in a barely audible whisper.

"Thank you anyway, Ma'am," Harry said again as he stood to return to the Gryffindor table. "Draco is lucky to have a mother that cares for him so much."

"Potter," Draco said suddenly. "Thank you for saving my life. Twice."

Harry looked back at the pale young man and for a moment he thought about telling Malfoy to keep his thanks but instead Harry held out his hand to his oldest school nemesis in an offering of peace. Lucius watched from the corner of his eye as his son stood up and shook hands with Harry. What he was thinking was a mystery to Harry, but the older Malfoy let out a long breath before he also stood up and held a hand out to Harry.

"You are right, Mr. Potter," Lucius said firmly, "we will never be 'best mates' as you put it, but you did save my son's life twice and for that I would like to say thank you."

Harry knew it must be killing Lucius Malfoy to say such things to him considering their past encounters. It was even more tempting than with Draco to throw his thanks back in his face but Harry could not help thinking that if they were to all live in peace, it was the small gestures that would start them on their way. Harry still thought Lucius Malfoy was a slimy git, but it seemed he did at least have something resembling a heart under all that slime.

"You're welcome, Mr. Malfoy," Harry said shaking hands with the former Death Eater.

Without saying anything else, Harry nodded his head to the Malfoys before he returned to his seat next to Ginny. Mr. Weasley gave Harry a look of approval as he sat back down and took a sip of his pumpkin juice. Ron looked stunned but Hermione smiled at Harry with tears in her eyes.

"That was very nice of you, Harry," Ginny whispered.

"It was the right thing to do," Harry said taking her hand in his and kissing it softly. "I told Kingsley that when the Malfoys went to trial I would speak on behalf of Draco and Narcissa. I guess Mr. Malfoy volunteered to present himself to the Wizengamot with no strings attached. He is evidently determined to take responsibility for his actions."

"Kingsley said something about that to me earlier," Arthur Weasley said looking over at Harry. "Lucius has to report to the Ministry first thing tomorrow morning or else face immediate sentencing for his crimes. Kingsley pulled some strings so that he could at least spend some time with his wife and son before that.

"What do you think will happen to him," Harry asked the Weasley patriarch. "Will he get off with a light sentence?"

"I don't think that is going to happen this time, Harry," Mr. Weasley said looking down at the empty plate in front of him. "Lucius will most likely spend the rest of his life in Azkaban for his crimes, but if he cooperates with the Ministry, they may pardon his wife and son for their part in Voldemort's schemes."

"Who would have guessed," George said with a wry grin, "turns out the wanker has a bit of the right stuff after all."

"George," Mrs. Weasley said almost automatically, "watch your language."

"Look who's talking," George said under his breath to Harry with a slight chuckle.

They ate in silence for a while until Ron had finished eating. Hermione took that as the right moment to speak to Harry about their meeting with Kingsley.

"Harry," she said in an excited whisper. "Did Kingsley talk to you about taking the practical exams for your N.E.W.T.s?"

"Yes he did, Hermione," Harry said with a smile, "and I told him that I would."

"How wicked is that, Harry," Ron said with a boyish grin on his face. "Here I thought we would have to return to school or something. Instead we get our N.E.W.T.s and we get to be Aurors."

"School isn't that bad, Ron," Hermione said with a slight edge to her voice. "I for one rather enjoy learning new things."

"Well of course you do," Ron said with a mischievous grin on his face, "but you're mental like that."

Hermione was about to protest but Ron silenced her with a very romantic kiss. Mrs. Weasley beamed at her youngest son for a moment before clearing her throat after a moment to show that she thought the kiss had last quite long enough. Ron and Hermione broke apart, both blushing as they looked around at the smiling faces around them.

"Good for you, Ron," George said raising his glass to toast his brother's newfound happiness.

"May I have your attention," McGonagall called from the front of the hall. "We will now make our way outside for the service. Parents may take their children home with them after the service is over. However, the Hogwarts Express will be departing tomorrow morning for any who wish to stay the night instead."

Without further word, people began to make their way out onto the school grounds. Harry was surprised to see that the grounds had been, for the most part, returned to normal in the past few days. Occasionally there would be small signs of the battle, but for the most part they were only small areas and were easy to overlook if one was not looking for them. By the time they reached the site of Dumbledore's tomb, everything looked back to normal.

Just as it had at the end of Harry's sixth year, the grounds near the lake had been covered in row upon row of chairs for those in attendance. The saddest difference was the white coffins that were lined up behind the speaker's podium. It had been decided by mutual consent that the fallen would be buried at Hogwarts alongside Dumbledore, who had been one of the very first to fall in the war.

Harry took a seat towards the back but Kingsley motioned for him to move towards the front. Leading Ginny with him, Harry took the seat in the front row that Kingsley motioned him to before sitting down and staring at Dumbledore's final resting place. Ginny rested her head on his shoulder and held tightly to his hand with hers as Kingsley made his way to the podium.

Although Harry could not see the crowd from where he was sitting, he could hear the low buzz of conversation and the occasional sound of crying. Looking down at Ginny, Harry could see tears in her luminous eyes and he leaned over to kiss the top of her head as he gave her hands a gentle squeeze. He was about to say something comforting to her when Kingsley finally began to speak.

"Welcome everyone," Kingsley said in his magically amplified deep voice. "It saddens me that one of my first official duties as the Minister of Magic has to be to stand here before you today. I have to keep reminding myself that we are here to remember the brave and noble souls that fought so hard to make sure that the rest of us could live freely, or I might start crying myself. I lost friends in this war, just like you."

To everyone's surprise, Kingsley stepped out from behind the podium and walked out in front of it to stand between in the aisle between the two front rows of chairs. Harry realized that Kingsley wanted to show that he was a part of the crowd of mourners and not a cold and distant observer. That desire alone put Kingsley far above the two previous Ministers of Magic in Harry's mind.

"Alastor Moody and Albus Dumbledore died trying to save the life of a young man I greatly admire," Kingsley continued with a slight nod to Harry before going on. "Then there was Nymphadora Tonks Lupin, who would kill me for using her first name if she was here now. She died so that her newborn son would not have to grow up in a world filled with hate and bigotry. That would be sad enough if her husband, and my very good friend, Remus Lupin had not also died fighting for that very same cause.

"They are not the only ones though. Sirius Black spent twelve years in Azkaban for a crime that he did not commit, only to die fighting the forces of darkness so that no one else might have to suffer the way that he had. I still miss hearing his strange barking laughter, but I'm sure he and Remus are busy planning some spectacular pranks right now with their friend James."

Kingsley looked up at the sky for a moment and then smiled at the thought of the Marauders being together again. When he looked back down at the crowd, there were tears in his eyes that he did not bother to wipe away.

"I'm not the only one that lost friends and family in this war," he continued softly. "We've lost so many people, magical and Muggle alike. No one here can say that they were untouched by Tom Riddle's dark ambition. So what do we do now?"

Kingsley turned to the podium, and with a wave of his wand, it was gone so that everyone could clearly see the rows of white coffins that lay beyond it.

"How do we honor them?" he asked pointing at the coffins. "How do we make sure that no one ever forgets what they died to help bring about? How do we honor their sacrifice?"

Kingsley motioned towards six men who were sitting off to the side of the assembly. The men slowly made their way around the perimeter of the coffins before facing the center and waiting.

"There used to be a fountain in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic," Kingsley said as he turned back to the crowd. "It was supposedly dedicated to the brotherhood of the magical races. It's gone now and good riddance. I never liked that fountain much; I guess I thought it looked a little too false."

Kingsley turned and nodded to the six wizards behind him and they each pulled out their wands and began murmuring to themselves. Harry could feel the energy building in the air around him and he realized that whatever the wizards were doing, it was going to be very spectacular.

"I think we need a new symbol to guide us now," Kingsley said simply. "A new sign of our equality and our desire for something better then we have had before."

Suddenly everyone was blinded by a pillar of white flame that shot up into the sky higher than anyone could see. Harry felt Ginny bury her face in his robes and heard the crowd gasp in surprise. The flames died away quickly though and when they were gone a large monument stood where the coffins had been.

The monument had to be at least thirty feet tall and seemed to be constructed completely out of the same white marble as Dumbledore's tomb. At its center was the image of a giant, Harry thought it might even be Grawp, holding his right hand up into the air with his palm cupping something that Harry could not see. Around the giant were four pedestals of varying height with two statues on each pedestal.

Standing on the pedestal directly behind Dumbledore's tomb were statues of Lupin and Tonks. They each smiled out at the crowd as they held their right and left hands out as if offering the onlookers some gift. Their free hands were clasped tightly together. Harry had to wipe his eyes quickly as tears began to form in them the moment he looked up into the faces of his lost friends.

Next was a taller pedestal with two small house elves, a male and a female, also smiling with their hands held outward as if offering something to whoever might stand in front of them. Ginny tugged on Harry's sleeve and pointed at the male house elf before mouthing the word, "Dobby." She was right of course, and Harry had to brush away even more tears as he realized that the house elf really was a depiction of Dobby. Harry stifled a laugh when he noticed that Doby was even wearing his multiple hats and a pair of overly large socks.

Harry could just make out the head of a male goblin on the next pedestal but he could not see the fourth at all. What drew his attention instead were the rows of golden names floating just above the sides of the pedestals. He suspected that they were the names of all those that had fallen during Voldemort's reign of terror.

"Notice that none of them is higher than the other," Kingsley said to the crowd. "All stand as equals. Human, house elf, goblin, and centaur, even the giant is an equal amongst them though he is a bit larger than the rest. Each sees eye to eye with the other as they remind us that not just humans died in this war."

Suddenly Harry heard it. A sound that he had never thought to hear again was coming from far away and coming closer by the moment. It was music so pure that Harry wanted to laugh for joy at hearing it again. The closer the music came, the more the crowd seemed to sigh with relief.

With a burst of flame, Fawkes suddenly appeared on Harry's shoulder. The beautiful bird affectionately rubbed its head against Harry's for a moment before taking flight again. To the stunned amazement of everyone present, including Kingsley, Fawkes landed on the outstretched arm of each statue and dipped his beak into their palms. Each time he did this, a brilliant golden flame ignited within the statue's hands. Finally Fawkes flew to the top of the monument and repeated the process one last time creating a flame so large that Harry was sure at night it would be seen for miles around.

Fawkes slowly glided back down to Harry and for a moment it seemed that the Phoenix would land again. Instead, Fawkes twisted in the air and three beautiful tail feathers fell into Harry's lap. Then with a final trill of song, Fawkes was gone in a flash of flame.

"I was actually going to do that myself," chuckled Kingsley to the crowd. "It seems that Fawkes had other ideas. I would not be surprised if his gift to us all today is that those flames can never go out. All the better because we should never forget the heroes and the victims of this war."

Without another word, Kingsley turned and bowed to the monument. He was immediately joined as the entire crowd; Harry included, stood and bowed to the monument as well. After that the crowd began to disperse and make their way back to the castle. Harry and Ginny walked over to the statues of Lupin and Tonks to say their final farewells to the departed couple before walking around to the rear of the monument to get a better look at the centaur couple and the goblin couple.

Strangely there was a second and separate tomb in front of the goblin's statues. Just like Dumbledore's tomb, this one was plain white marble except for gold lettering on the top of it. Harry walked over to get a better look at it and heard Ginny gasp as they both read what was written there.

"Here lies Severus Snape. 1959 – 1998. Headmaster of Hogwarts and Potions Master. 'There are many kinds of bravery and though he walked in darkness, his path was always lit by love.'"

Harry was unsure of how to feel about the man that he had hated for so long. Snape had tormented and bullied Harry for so long but in the end, had been Harry's fiercest defender. Now he was gone and Harry could only hope that this tormented man had been able to find the peace and redemption that he had sought for so long. There was only one thing that Harry could think of to honor the man who had loved his mother so deeply.

Laying a hand on the slightly warm marble, Harry looked up into the blue sky above and with a smile on his face softly whispered, "Goodbye, **Professor** Snape."


	7. Ron

RON 

That night, after the memorial service, Harry spent a great deal of time talking with the families of friends and fellow students that had been hurt or killed during the final battle. Possibly the hardest confrontation had been with the family of Colin Creevey. Colin's younger brother Dennis had taken the death of his brother very hard. Nothing that his father, a Muggle milkman, said to his youngest son seemed to snap the small boy out of his depression. In an odd turn of events, it was George that finally took charge of the situation in order to help set the boy right again.

George had surprised them all when he had walked over and lifted Dennis up on to his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Mr. Creevey had been about to say something but Harry had just smiled and motioned for the confused man to watch and wait. Plopping Dennis down on a bench further down the hall, George had sat next to the small boy and begun talking. What the two of them talked about was anybody's guess but the end result was the two of them laughing hysterically as they walked back over to join Harry and Dennis' father.

"That's got the midget sorted out," George said with a wide grin directed to the boy's father. "He knows how to reach me if he needs to talk and the same goes for you, sir."

With a warm handshake and a nod to Harry, George walked away whistling a happy little tune. Harry had never admired George Weasley as much as he did right at that moment. George had set aside his own grief for a little while to help a small boy laugh for a little while. In Harry's opinion, that was one of the noblest things he had ever seen anyone do.

After his visit with the Creeveys, Harry made his way up to the hospital ward to visit Lavender Brown. Like Bill, she had been attacked by Fenrir Greyback when he was not transformed and no one was quite sure how badly she had been mauled. Harry hoped for her sake, that her injuries were not as severe as Bill's had been. He could not imagine how Lavender, who had always been a very pretty girl, would deal with being disfigured.

"Madam Pomfrey," Harry called when he found the ward empty. "Are you here?"

Stepping out of her office, Madam Pomfrey smiled at Harry and smiled saying, "How are you today, Mr. Potter? Not feeling unwell I should hope?"

"I feel just fine, ma'am," Harry said with a smile. "I was hoping to visit with Lavender Brown for a few moments but it seems she's gone."

"Yes," said the older woman as her expression seemed to darken. "She refused to remain here for treatment and while I was caring for another patient, she snuck out. I have not seen her since but I do hope she had sense enough to get herself to a Healer if not to St. Mungo's."

Madam Pomfrey had refused to say anything else about one of her patients, even if that patient had run off. Harry made his way back to the Gryffindor common room repairing as much damage to the castle as he could in an attempt to keep from worrying about Lavender. He wondered what she could have been thinking to run away from the hospital wing after being injured. The very thought of her doing something like that shocked Harry so much that he could not comprehend the young woman's motivation.

"Harry," Ginny called him over to the couch where she had been waiting for him. "Everyone else left for the Burrow already but I wanted to wait for you."

"Thanks, Ginny," said Harry, still partially distracted by his thoughts of Lavender Brown.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Ginny said as she potted the couch next to her. "You look like a wrackspurt got you."

"What?" Harry said chuckling as he sat down next to Ginny and pulled her up on to his lap. "You've been hanging around Luna too much."

"Well, I had to hang out with someone. Seems my boyfriend decided to chase after Dark artifacts for a few months rather than stay here and snog me like any good boyfriend would. You would think he was trying to save the wizarding world from some type of dark wizard or something like that," Ginny said playfully.

Harry could not help but laugh at the harshly true, yet tremendously funny summary of his adventures.

"What a git," Harry said as he pulled Ginny closer and nuzzled her neck. "Your boyfriend sounds like a real prat, if you ask me."

"Oh," Ginny said breathlessly, "he has his moments."

Ginny was tired of teasing Harry and the kiss she gave him then was enough to make his blood boil. If they had not been sitting in the middle of the common room he might have given her the most thorough snogging of her life. As it happened, just as he was reaching for his wand to cast a Disillusionment charm on them several students walked in through the portrait hole talking about the battle and how terrifying it had been for them. Neither Harry nor Ginny felt much like snogging after that and so they decided it was time to take their leave of Hogwarts and return home to the Burrow.

The walk down to the village of Hogsmeade was a silent one for the two young people. They walked hand in hand past the monument to the fallen, with its eternally burning flames soaring up into the night sky so that it could be seen for miles around. Harry did not want to stop and see Lupin or Tonks' faces right then. It was not that he wanted to forget his friends; he just wanted to go home. Once Harry and Ginny crossed through the gates of Hogwarts, Harry looked back over his shoulder and smiled.

"Three lost and lonely boys," Harry thought. "How strange to think that Hogwarts meant so much to all three of us."

"You know, Ginny," he said softly, "Hogwarts was the only real home I ever knew until I met your family."

"Someday," Ginny said smiling back up at him, "we'll make a home for ourselves."

"I'd like that, very much," Harry said as he leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips.

Ginny was so preoccupied with Harry's kiss that she did not even notice as he Apparated them directly to the front yard of the Burrow. It was only when she heard her mother calling them inside for dinner that Ginny realized where she was. With a quick peck on Harry's cheek, she ran into the house while Harry looked around the yard, just glad to finally be back.

Harry noticed Ron sitting by himself under a large nearby oak and he went to join his friend. Taking a seat in the cool grass next to Ron, Harry was amazed at how peaceful it was. For the first time in over a year, he was truly at peace.

"I love her, Harry," Ron said suddenly.

"I know you do," Harry replied smiling up at the sky.

"I even think she loves me back," Ron said sounding surprised.

"I know she does," was all Harry could say to his friend.

"Wish you had told us earlier, mate," Ron said with a chuckle. "Think of all the times in that tent we could have been snogging while you were on watch."

Harry could not help but laugh. Soon he and Ron were laughing so loudly that Hermione actually looked out the door at them. Harry and Ron just laughed even harder as she shook her head in mock frustration and walked away from the door. It took several minutes after that for the two young men to calm down enough to catch their breath.

"I miss, Fred," Ron said after a few minutes. "George isn't the same since he's been gone. None of us is, really."

"I miss him too," Harry replied as both young men stared out across the hills behind the Burrow.

"I sort of figured… you know… that you or I would be the ones not to make it back here," Ron finally said after a few minutes of silence. "Then when we went to back to Hogwarts, I just figured we were safe and everyone was going to make it home alright."

Harry picked up a small twig and rolled it between his fingers for a few moments before saying, "I thought once we reached Hogwarts that you and Hermione would be ok but I think I had started to figure out that I wasn't going to be as lucky."

"I'm glad it all worked out well in the end then," Ron said after another long pause in their conversation. "I need someone that can put up with me when I'm arguing with Hermione."

"Lucky me," laughed Harry.

"No, Harry," Ron said in a firm voice. "We're the lucky ones to have met you. Without you there would be a lot fewer Weasleys. We may have lost Fred, but you saved me, Ginny, and Dad. And don't think I didn't see you use that Shield charm to protect Mum when Voldemort tried to kill her."

Harry nodded as he tried not to think about how close Ginny had come to death that night. Just thinking about it made Harry's blood boil. Without even noticing what he was doing, Harry rolled the twig in his hand even faster between his fingers. It came as something of a surprise when the twig suddenly burst into flames.

"Bloody hell," Harry swore as her threw the twig away.

"What was that, Harry?" Ron said as he jumped up and stomped out the last of the flickering flames.

"I seem to have gotten a little more powerful after my visit to the forest," Harry said standing up. "Without Tom's bit of soul hiding in me, I have a bit more power available to me now."

"Brilliant," Ron said chuckling as he slapped Harry on the shoulder. "Maybe you'll be able to keep Ginny from using the Bat-Bogey on me then."

"You're my best mate and all, Ron," Harry said with a chuckle, "but there's no way I'm getting in Ginny's way if you piss her off. She'd bloody hurt me."

Both young men burst into laughter again as they made their way to the Burrow. It felt good to laugh together after being on edge for so long. For Harry, the best part was to be laughing with his best mate as they finally opened the door and stepped into inside the Burrow. Harry was glad to be home at last.


	8. Hermione

HERMIONE 

The first few days at the Burrow were some of the best that Harry could ever remember having. For once he did not have to worry about having to return to the Dursleys or having a psychopathic dark wizard hunting for him. Instead all he had to worry about were the blizzard of owls that came every morning from reporters and admirers.

Harry found it a bit disturbing that he had gone from being the "boy-who-lived" to the "Man-who-defeated-Voldemort." People seemed to think that he had all the answers to their problems. Almost daily, people were sending letters so Harry asking his opinion, his guidance, and generally wanting him to think for them.

"Why are they doing this?" Harry asked Mr. Weasley one morning.

"You are a hero," Mr. Weasley said with a dry laugh. "They think you must be wiser and smarter than they are because you did something that they couldn't."

"But I'm not," Harry said feeling more than a little frustrated. "I'm just a normal bloke like all of them."

"You have never been just a 'normal bloke', Harry," said Mr. Weasley with a warm smile. "You ARE a hero and I think you always have been. No matter what stood in your way, you found a way to overcome it and you never let it stop you from doing the right thing."

"He's right, Harry," said Hermione as she walked into the room. "You fought a fully grown mountain troll to save a know-it-all girl you barely knew."

"I couldn't let it hurt you, Hermione."

"That's the whole point, Harry," Hermione said rather smugly. "You barely knew me and you risked your life to save me. Just like you saved Ginny in the Chamber. Just like you saved everyone when you defeated, Tom. You didn't do any of those things for fame or recognition. You did them because they were the right thing to do and because someone needed to do them."

"I just didn't want anyone to get hurt," Harry said feeling a little embarrassed by what Hermione had said.

"That's why you are who you are," Hermione said hugging Harry tightly. "You care about everyone. "

"Hermione," Harry said as he hugged Hermione back just as tightly, "You care just as much about people as I do. You saved my arse, and Ron's, more times than I can count. You even managed to fall in love with Ron, and that took the patience of a saint. I am proud to have you as my sister, Hermione Jean Granger."

Hermione blushed bright red but there were also tears in her eyes. Mr. Weasley, walked over and took both young people in his arms and embraced them with.

"Everything she said is true, Harry," the Weasley patriarch said with a smile. "The only thing that I can add is that I am proud to call you my son. As for you, Hermione, you are just as much my daughter as Ginny is."

Hermione was howling now. Both men were chuckling as she buried her face in Harry's chest and let the tears fall. After a few moments Hermione wiped her eyes, and with a quick kiss on Harry and Mr. Weasley's cheek, she left the room quietly. Harry and Mr. Weasley turned to each other smiling.

"Barking," Harry said chuckling.

"You couldn't have chosen a better friend though," Mr. Weasley said patting Harry's shoulder.

"I got lucky," Harry said proudly.

That afternoon, Ron and Hermione headed off to the Ministry to meet up with her parents. Kingsley had contacted the Muggle Prime Minister and asked that he find Hermione's parents for her. Now they had been returned to London and Hermione was going to remove the memory modification so that they would remember her.

Harry had stayed behind at the Burrow to give Hermione some private time with her parents but Ron wanted to be there for her. Harry figured he could spend the time with Ginny. They had not been able to spend a lot of time together since returning to the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley had been smothering all of them in an attempt to give them a sense of normalcy after all they had been through.

"Hey, Gin," Harry said to her after Ron and Hermione were gone. "I was thinking of checking out Grimmauld Place today. Care to go with me?"

"I'd love to go with you, Mr. Potter," Ginny said with a mischievous little smile. "You won't try to take advantage of me while we are there, will you?"

"Why, Miss Weasley," he replied in his most innocent tone of voice, "what type of man do you think I am?"

"I think you are the just the type of man that I love very much," she said slipping into his arms and kissing him passionately.

After a few quick explanations as to where they were off to, and a knowing glance from Mrs. Weasley, they were off. Harry Side-Along Apparated with Ginny to the stoop of number 12 Grimmauld Place with an ease that came from countless times doing it over the previous few months as they had hid from Death Eaters. Harry remembered his last trip to Grimmauld Place and he worried what damage the Death Eaters and members of the Ministry might have done.

With a tap of his wand on the door, he escorted Ginny inside. The first thing he noticed was that Mad-Eye's defenses were gone. Evidently someone had gotten rid of them in his absence. It was the lack of any visible damage that really caught Harry's attention. In fact, the house looked cleaner than it had the last time he was there.

"Kreacher," Harry called tentatively.

With a loud crack, Kreacher stood before Harry with a wide smile. The aged house elf still wore the locket that Harry had given him around his neck.

"Greetings, Master Harry," Kreacher said with a florid bow and wide smile. "Welcome home and you has brought Miss Weasley with you."

"I'm glad to see you, Kreacher," Harry said feeling relieved that Kreacher was alright after the final battle.

"I is just fine, Master Harry," said the elderly elf as he busied himself dusting the many paintings on the wall.

Ginny was tugging on Harry's sleeve as she watched Kreacher before she finally whispered to Harry, "What's up with Kreacher. He's being so nice. It's creepy."

"I'll tell you all about it later," Harry said as he wondered what was missing from his arrival at Grimmauld place. "Kreacher, why is it so quiet in here?"

The aged house elf stopped what he was doing and wiped a tear from his watery eyes. Harry let go of Ginny's hand and knelt before Kreacher so he could look the crying creature in the eyes.

"When the nasty men from the Ministry of Magic came," Kreacher said as the tears now poured from his eyes, "my former mistress' portrait screamed and wailed at them. Finally one of them destroyed her portrait to silence her cries."

"Can't we repair it, Kreacher?" Harry asked softly even though he was rather glad the insane woman's painting was finally gone.

Kreacher's smile was genuine and warm as he finally answered, "No Master Harry. He used a Dark curse to destroy my former mistress' painting and nothing remains but ash now."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Kreacher," Ginny said soothingly as she knelt down next to Harry.

"Thank you, Miss Weasley," Kreacher said cheering up finally. "I is knowing you must be kind if you are here with Master Harry."

Harry listened to a short lecture from Kreacher about missing out on the pot roast that the elf had been preparing for him the night that Harry and the others had been forced to flee. He was like a mother hen as he scolded Harry for worrying him for so long. Ginny stifled a laugh as she watched Harry taking the lecture with a smile.

"I promise, Kreacher," Harry said finally, "I will make sure from now on that I warn you if I am going to miss a meal. I promise."

"That will be fine, Master Harry," Kreacher finally said as he returned to the kitchen to make lunch for them.

Harry and Ginny laughed and joked as they ate their lunch before looking around the old house. Kreacher had been doing a wonderful job of cleaning the house in Harry's absence. Harry used the time to tell Ginny all about the change in Kreacher's attitude and what had led to it.

"I was wondering," Harry said once they had finished eating. "I'm thinking of moving in here full time and I was going to ask if Ron and Hermione wanted to move in with me."

"What about me, Mr. Potter," Ginny said in a slightly dangerous tone of voice.

"Well, Miss Weasley," whispered Harry, "I thought that maybe after you turned seventeen and finished your last year at Hogwarts, you might care to move in as well. On a more permanent basis, of course."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I turn eighteen soon," Harry continued. "It occurred to me that when that happens I will be considered an adult in the muggle world as well as the wizarding world. I thought that maybe at that time I might want to settle down and take a wife. Know any beautiful red heads that might want to apply for the job?"

Ginny stared at him for a few moments. Her face was the most beautiful shade of pink that Harry had ever seen in his life and the expression of surprise was glorious.

"Do you… I mean… are you… is this," she stuttered.

"Will you marry me, Gin," Harry asked with a grin that hid how fast his heart was beating. "Not today or tomorrow maybe, but when things are calmer and you've finished school?"

"YES," she screamed throwing her arms around Harry's neck and kissing him fiercely.


	9. Ginny Again

GINNY AGAIN 

Time always seems to pass faster when you are having fun. For Harry, time passed as if in the blink of an eye. After announcing their engagement, Ginny had demanded they tell her family immediately. Mrs. Weasley had been even more determined than ever to make Harry a true member of the Weasley family. A huge party was held with most of the remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix, including Kingsley who showed up late but said nothing could stop him from being there to wish Harry and Ginny good luck.

Harry noticed that Ginny seemed a bit distracted over the next few days. Often she would glance down at her left hand or play with her ring finger as if something were missing and when Harry spoke with her there seemed to be a questioning tone to her voice. Harry, not being a complete git, realized that he probably should have waited to ask Ginny to marry him until he had actually gotten her a ring. It was Mrs. Weasley, who very bluntly explained to Harry that women tended to think the man was more serious about asking them to marry them if they were given a ring. Hermione on the other hand just shook her head and walked away from Harry shaking her head and saying something under her breath that sounded a great deal like, "boys."

Unfortunately, Harry did not have much time to go ring shopping because the next day saw the trio back at Hogwarts for their N.E.W.T. practical exams. The tests took four days to complete and left Harry feeling as if he had just fought Voldemort again. They all managed to survive the tests however and were presented with letters announcing that they had scored top marks in each of their exams. Hagrid wasted no time inviting Harry, Ron, and Hermione down to his hut for an impromptu party. A party that ended up spreading out to the school grounds around Hagrid's hut as all the teachers, the Weasleys, Kingsley, Aberforth, and Hermione's parents all came to celebrate the trio's success.

The news that Harry was going to move in to Grimmauld Place met with some resistance at first, especially from Mrs. Weasley. In the end Mrs. Weasley had understood Harry's need to have his own place in the wizarding world. It was only after Ron assured his mother that he would make sure that they were all at the Burrow almost every night for meals, and there on the weekends, that she had relented and even volunteered to help move the three young people into their new home. Ginny remained silent through that conversation as she sat next to Harry and rubbed her left ring finger while Harry silent berated himself for jumping the gun.

So it was that after celebrating Harry's eighteenth birthday at the Burrow with yet another party, all the Weasleys helped Ron and Hermione move their things into Grimmauld place. Harry helped his two best friends to move their things in since he still only had a few odds and ends that he had collected over the years. It was only at Ginny's insistence that he took her with him to Diagon Alley to shop for new clothes and assorted other possessions that she felt he needed to have. Harry rather enjoyed shopping with Ginny so he happily followed her around as she dragged him from one store to another. He just hoped he would be able to get a little time by himself so that he could do a little shopping on his own.

Eventually Harry was able to duck out for a few minutes while Ginny visited with George at his store. Harry still found it hard not to look for Fred in the crowd of people inside Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Ginny seemed to notice the same thing and Harry noticed a single tear roll down her cheek before she wiped it away and started dragging George around the store so that he could show her all the new products that were on display. While she did that, Harry snuck out with a quick wink to George.

Harry made his way to Gringotts and after a hurried trip to his vault, with two extra goblins so that he did not make any side trips, Harry was back out on the street and making his way to a little jewelry store that Bill had recommended the night before. After explaining to the elderly wizard that was assisting him exactly what he was looking for, Harry looked at several engagement rings and eventually picked out a gold one with a modest diamond and several small emeralds. The shopkeeper explained that the diamond would give off a faint light so long as Ginny wore it, so that it always sparkled brightly for her.

Harry quickly paid for the ring and then made his way back to George's store in the hopes that Ginny would not have noticed his absence. It was a foolish hope. As soon as he walked in the door of the shop he saw Ginny standing there tapping her foot and looking rather angry at him.

"And where in the bloody hell have you been, Harry James Potter," she said sounding exactly like her mother had so long ago when the Weasley boys had rescued Harry from the Dursleys' home before his second year at Hogwarts.

"I had to run Gringotts, Gin," Harry said in his most innocent tone of voice. "I needed to convert some Galleons into Muggle money so we could go out and shop in Muggle London after lunch."

"Well next time," Ginny said only mildly appeased by his answer, "you make sure you tell me where you are going."

Harry was surprised when the small redhead suddenly threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his waist so tightly that he could barely breathe. It surprised him even more that she was crying softly into his shirt. Wrapping his arms around her, all Harry could do was hold her for a few minutes and stroke her hair gently until she calmed down.

"I was so scared," she finally whispered to him.

"What were you scared of?" Harry asked soothingly as he pulled back so he could look into her eyes.

"I was afraid something had happened to you," she whispered looking down at the space between them.

"Nothing is going to happen to me, Ginny," Harry assured her. "I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere without you."

"You just did," Ginny said with a quaver in her voice. "You don't know how scared I was that you were never going to come back to me."

Harry could only nod sadly as he led Ginny over to a darker corner of the store so they could have a bit of privacy. The corner where George kept the Muggle magic tricks seemed a good place to talk since no one seemed interested in the little novelty items. Ginny was pale and trembling slightly as they stood behind one of the larger displays and Harry cast Muffliato so they could talk without being overheard.

"I'm so sorry, Gin," Harry said holding the crying young woman close to his chest. "I wanted to be with you every day I was gone. I can't tell you how many nights I pulled the Marauder's Map out and watched you sleeping in your bed, wishing I could wake you up and talk to you, tell you I was ok and how much I loved you."

"When I was at Hogwarts and we were doing everything we could to resist the Carrows," Ginny said in a watery voice, "I would listen to _Potterwatch_ with the others and pray that they would tell us once and for all that you were ok. When they didn't I would lie in bed at night and cry myself to sleep because I was so afraid that you were dead. Then when I got the message from Neville that you were at Hogwarts all I could think of was that I was going to get to see you again."

"Well you did get to see me again," Harry said trying to cheer her up.

"It wasn't the same, Harry," Ginny said shaking her head. "As soon as I saw you I knew that you still had things to do and we still couldn't be together. Then you were agreeing with Mum that I had to leave and I felt this horrible sense of dread that I was never going to see you again."

Harry remained silent now. Obviously Ginny had been holding all of this in for a very long time and needed to get it off her chest finally. He might have preferred that they have this conversation in a more secluded location but now that Ginny had started talking, he thought he owed it to her to hear her out.

"Then you vanished again in the middle of the battle and I couldn't find you anywhere," Ginny said slowly. "I kept finding people that were injured and I did my best to comfort them until help came, but I really just wanted to find you. I felt guilty as I tried to soothe them because I just wanted to ignore their cries and keep searching for you."

"You wouldn't be the woman I love if you had done that," Harry said soothingly.

"Maybe," Ginny said with a hint of sarcasm. "I was just so terrified for you. And when I heard Tom saying he had killed you, I thought I was going to go crazy. Then I saw you lying in Hagrid's arms and I just wanted to die."

Harry pulled away from Ginny and lifter her chin up so he could look into her eyes before he spoke very clearly and very fiercely.

"Don't ever say that to me again, Gin," he said looking directly into her eyes. "Your life is so important to me that I let a madman 'kill' me just so you would be safe. Thoughts of you, and the love that I feel for you, were the only things that kept me going most days."

"Well then why didn't you come home sooner, Harry?" Ginny said in a pleading voice. "I needed you here and you weren't there."

"I was doing what I had to so that we could be together," Harry said as his temper started to boil. "I was doing everything I could so that no one would have to suffer the things that were done to me. If you would pull your head out of your arse you would understand that everything I did, I did for you. I know I was gone a long time. You don't know how much I missed you while I was gone, but nothing was going to stop me from getting back here to you."

"You were going to let that bloody bastard kill you," she nearly screamed at Harry. "Just how was that going to get you back to me with you dead out in the forest and me trapped in the castle?"

"I don't know, Gin," said Harry in defeat. "I did what I had to do so that someone might be able to kill Tom."

"What," Ginny fired back sarcastically, "did you think Neville was going to have the backbone to kill Voldemort?"

"Gin, that was unkind," Harry said after a moment in which neither spoke. "Neville was doing everything in his power to make sure that Voldemort was defeated."

"I'm sorry, Harry," Ginny wept. "I was just so frightened."

Harry scooped the small redhead up in his arms, along with all their previous purchases, and without a moment's thought they were at 12 Grimmauld Place and heading inside. Harry was in such a hurry that he did not even say hello to Hermione as she walked past them. Harry carried Ginny up to his room and finally sat her down on his bed before he turned around and slammed the door closed behind him.

"Now you listen to me, Ginny Weasley," Harry said kneeling down in front of her. "I'm going to tell you this once so you listen well."

Ginny was a bit shaken by Harry's sudden abrupt and forceful attitude. Truth be told, she was suddenly very turned on by his behavior. She was seeing for the first time since the night of the final battle the Harry that took control in a dangerous situation, just as he had at the Ministry of Magic three years before. This was the Harry that made her weak in the knees and that she had dreamt about so many nights while he was absent.

"I love you, Gin," Harry said in the forceful and husky tone of voice that Ginny found so attractive. "I'm here now and I'm not going anyplace. I did what I had to do, when I had to do it because if I didn't then that bloody wanker was going to keep killing until there was no one left to stand up to him.

"I'm sorry," Ginny finally said as she started to cry again. "I'm just being a silly little girl, aren't I?"

"No you're not," Harry said as he leaned up and kissed her cheek softly. "Don't ever think I see you as just some 'silly little girl' or that I don't appreciate you. You are the most wonderful person I know. I want to know what you are feeling and I want to make your fears go away."

"I just can't help being afraid that you are going to leave me again," Ginny said looking into his bright green eyes.

"Gin," Harry said as he looked back into her beautiful brown eyes. "I'm not going anywhere. I guess this all started because I wanted to prove to you exactly that."

Reaching into his back pocket, Harry brought out the little velvet box that contained the ring he had purchased for Ginny just that afternoon. Harry shifted around so that he could kneel in front of the still-crying young woman; Harry opened the box so that she could see what was inside of it. Ginny's tears instantly doubled as she covered her mouth with a trembling hand.

"You see," Harry said with a smile, "I know I sort of messed up by asking you to marry me before I got you a ring. So this afternoon while you were talking to George I thought I would sneak out and get you one. I had planned on taking you out to a fancy restaurant with candles and soft music so that I could do it right this time."

Tears slowly started to roll down Ginny's cheeks again as she kept looking between Harry and the ring he was offering her. Harry touched the wand in his belt with his free hand and caused numerous candles to suddenly fill the room around them.

"I want to be with you for the rest of my life, Gin," Harry continued feeling a bit nervous. "I want to have babies with you. Most of all I want to grow old with you beside me. So, I'm asking you, Ginny Weasley, will you marry me?"

Harry took the ring from its resting place and held it out for Ginny. At first he thought she was going to say no because all she did was look at him with tears sparkling in her eyes. If she did not answer him soon, Harry was sure that his heart was going to explode because it was beating so fast in his chest.

"Harry," Ginny finally said in a whisper, "I don't care about a silly ring. I never did, really. I just want you to promise me that you will never leave me behind again. Can you do that?"

"You have my word on that, Gin," he said without hesitation.

Holding out her ring finger for Harry to place the ring upon her finger Ginny finally smiled and said, "Then the answer is yes, Harry Potter, I will marry you, and have babies with you, and grow old with you."

Slipping the ring on Ginny's finger, Harry leaned up to kiss Ginny lightly on the lips. Ginny, it seemed, had other ideas as she suddenly captured his mouth with hers and kissed him fiercely, almost savagely. Their discussion had been heated and so was their snogging. Without thinking about it, Harry sealed the door to his room and cast a Silencing charm on it before he slid up onto the bed next to Ginny.

It was early the next morning before Hermione and Ron saw either of the young couple again. Ron had used the Floo network to let his mother know that Ginny was staying the night as they wanted to go shopping in Muggle London first thing in the morning. Whether the Weasley matriarch believed her youngest son was anyone's guess. Mrs. Weasley had a look on her face that hinted that she had her suspicions about what her daughter was up to but she just nodded and went about her business. The fact that Ginny came down to breakfast wearing what looked like one of Harry's old school uniform shirts, while Harry was bare chested and wearing a faded pair of pajama bottoms, just seemed to prove what Mrs. Weasley had suspected.

"You ok, Gin?" Ron asked as he sipped a fresh cup of tea.

"I'm perfect," his sister beamed as she poured a cup of tea for herself and Harry.

"How about you, mate," Ron said to Harry.

"Never been better," was Harry's reply as he took the cup of tea that Ginny offered him.

"I don't even want to know what you two were up to all night but so long as you are happy then it's no skin off my nose," Ron said as he turned back to read his copy of Quidditch Daily.

"Harry," Hermione said from behind her _Daily Prophet_, "I just hope you treated my friend with all the respect she deserves and didn't just chuck clothes every which way on your way to your bed with her."

Two twin sprays of tea managed to completely cover one end of the table as Harry and Ginny turned a shade of red that any Weasley could be proud of.


	10. Lavender

LAVENDER 

Muggle London was a source for constant amusement for Ron and Ginny. Although they rarely admitted it, they had inherited their father's love of all things Muggle. Ron was a bit more accustomed to the Muggle world, thanks to his travels with Harry and Hermione over the past year, but Ginny was constantly pointing out little things that caught her fancy such as televisions in shop windows or the fact that Muggle cars could not magically make their way through traffic.

Harry found Ginny's wide-eyed enjoyment of her surroundings to be very endearing and he loved explaining things to her as they made their way from shop to shop. Harry spent a good deal of time shopping for new Muggle clothes. His wizarding robes were very comfortable but having spent a good portion of his life in Muggle attire, Harry felt slightly more at ease in a pair of Converse trainers rather than dragon skin dress shoes. Not to mention the fact that most of his clothes to that point were still hand me downs from Dudley and Harry just wanted to have clothes that he would be the first to wear for once.

Another reason for venturing out into was the complete lack of recognition from the crowds around them. Ever since May, when the news had gotten out that Voldemort had finally met his end, Harry had been leery of being out amongst the wizarding public. He understood that he was famous; really he should say more famous then he had been before, but sometimes he just wanted to be a regular bloke. Out amongst the Muggles, he could have exactly that.

The four young people wandered from shop to shop having as much fun as the possibly could. Hermione was keeping a list of clothes and trinkets that Ginny was particularly fond of for Harry so he could return later and buy them for Ginny's birthday. Harry figured that since he had more money than he knew what to do with he was going to spoil her rotten this year to make up for all the time he had been away from her.

"Harry," Ron said in a harsh whisper as they exited one store.

"What?"

"Look over there," Ron said pointing to a poorly lit alley on the other side of the street.

At first Harry did not see anything out of the ordinary about the dirty little alleyway. Then he noticed something moving in the shadows. At first Harry thought it was a large dog or something rooting around in a trash bin. It was only when a bit of reflected light played across the figure that Harry realized to his horror, that it was a person digging through the garbage. What was even worse, he recognized what they were wearing as the school robes of a Gryffindor. With barely a glance at the traffic, Harry took off at a sprint, the other three right behind him.

"Hey," Harry shouted at the unknown person in the alleyway. "Wait a minute."

"Don't hurt me," screamed the figure as they turned and ran further into the alley and away from Harry and the others.

Casting a meaningful glance at Hermione over his shoulder, Harry ran after the ragged figure. Hermione had understood what Harry wanted instantly and the moment she was in the shadowy alleyway, she cast a Muggle Repelling charm on it so that they would not be bothered. Harry had known that after years of friendship Hermione would know what to do and he immediately Apparated to the other shadowy end of the alley to do the same.

Seeing Harry standing in their way, the fleeing stranger stopped dead and looked around for another escape route. Deciding to run back the way they had come, they ran straight into Ron. The two people collided and bounced off each other. Ron, being the larger of the two, merely stumbled a bit but the frightened stranger fell heavily to the ground crying.

"Leave me alone," sobbed a young woman's voice from under a mass of filthy matted hair.

"We're not going to hurt you, you git," Ron said wiping a trickle of blood from his lip where he had bitten it when he collided with the young woman.

"Ron," asked the young woman in a tremulous voice. "Is that you?"

A pair of tear filled eyes looked up at Ron through the curtain of matted hair. Harry walked up behind the young woman and noticed immediately a smell of stale sweat and foulness that made his eyes water. Ron noticed none of this because he had recognized those eyes from weeks of seeing them up close as he was snogging the young woman they belonged to.

"Lavender," Ron said in a hoarse whisper. "Oh God, Lavender, what's happened to you?"

Harry was shocked, and glancing at Hermione and Ginny he could see that they were as well. Lavender Brown had always been a beautiful young woman that took great pride in her appearance, never leaving her dorm room without checking to see that she looked as nice as could be. Yet here she was in a filthy Muggle alley looking as if she had not seen the comfort of home in months.

"They're all gone," Lavender sobbed as she suddenly stood up and flung herself at Ron, holding on to him as if he was the only real thing in the world.

"What you talkin' about, Lavender," Ron asked uncomfortably as he tried to comfort the sobbing girl in his arms. "Who's all gone?"

The stress of the situation, however, had been too much for the sobbing young woman. Ron was pulled to the ground as Lavender's body went suddenly limp. Harry and Ginny rushed forward to help Lavender as Hermione tried to help Ron back to his feet.

"We need to get her someplace safe," Ginny said to Harry as the kneeled over the unconscious young woman.

"I know," Harry agreed as he slid his arms under Lavender's limp body and lifted her. "Hermione. Lift the charms on the alley and then you and Ron meet us back at home Grimmauld Place."

"Wouldn't St. Mungo's be better, Harry?" Hermione asked as she and Ron gathered up all the packages they had dropped.

"Maybe later but right now I want to know what the hell is going on here," Harry said fiercely. "Hold on to my arm, Ginny."

Ginny nodded and held on tightly to Harry's arm as he Apparated them all to the stoop outside Grimmauld Place. Letting go of his arm, Ginny unlocked the door and opened it so that Harry could carry Lavender inside.

"Kreacher," Harry called stepping inside.

"Yes, Master Harry," Kreacher said in his deep bullfrog voice as he appeared before them.

"Get me a basin of hot water and some clean clothes, and hurry," Harry said carrying the unconscious Lavender into the parlor and laying her down on the nearest couch. "And bring me some tea and food as well."

Kreacher nodded and disappeared with a loud crack as Ginny stepped over to the couch and helped Harry as he tried to make Lavender comfortable.

"Merlin, Harry," Ginny said in a whisper, "she smells like she hasn't had a bath in weeks."

"I know," was all he could say as he brushed Lavender's matted hair away from her face.

Other than the grime of hard living, Lavender looked the same as she always had. Harry thanked God that she was not scarred as Bill had been after being attacked by Fenrir Greyback. That did not concern him nearly as much as why she had been evidently living life on the streets of Muggle London.

"Here you are, Master Harry," Kreacher said as he placed a platter with everything Harry had asked for beside his master.

"Thank you, Kreacher."

Harry looked up as he heard Hermione and Ron enter the room. Both wore expressions of deepest concern as they walked over to peer down at Lavender's sleeping form. Hermione was holding tightly on to Ron's hand as he looked down at his former girlfriend with a worried expression.

"She going to be ok?" asked Ron quietly.

"Ron," Lavender said weakly as her eyes fluttered open.

"I'm here, Lavender," said a very concerned Ron as he kneeled down beside Lavender and smiled at her.

"They're all gone, Ron," she said weakly as she stared at his face.

"Who's all gone?"

"Everyone," Lavender said as she sat up and wrapped her arms around Ron and started crying again. "My whole family is gone. They killed them all."

Ginny gasped at the news and Hermione rushed out of the room to use the fireplace in the kitchen to floo someone in order to confirm what Lavender had said. Harry reached over and wrapped an arm around Ginny to try and comfort her, but he could feel the anger building in him as it used to before Tom's shard of soul had been destroyed.

"I just wanted to go home, Ron," Lavender said through her sobbing. "I didn't want to stay at Hogwarts. I just wanted to go home so I snuck out and Apparated home as soon as I could."

"It's ok, Lav," Ron said as he tried his best to sooth the crying young woman. "You're safe here with us now."

"It was gone," Lavender continued as if she had not even heard Ron's words. "My house was nothing but a pile of rubble. I didn't believe it and I cried out for my family. They didn't answer me but I found them anyway."

Fresh sobs wracked the young woman's body as she fought to catch her breath. Eventually she seemed to gain a little control over herself but when she looked up at Ron, her eyes shone unnaturally bright and Harry was shocked to see that Lavender's lip was bleeding where she had bitten down on it to stop crying.

"I found them, Ron," she whispered. "They were all dead in the back yard. Had been for a while it looked like. I wanted to die too but I was afraid to do it."

Ginny was crying into Harry's shoulder now and Harry could feel his anger building by the moment. It was then that Harry saw Hermione walk back into the room leading Mrs. Weasley. The two women looked over at Harry. He could see from the look in Hermione's eyes that she had confirmed Lavender's story, and he motioned for them to wait before they approached further.

"I didn't know what to do or where to go," Lavender said sounding very weak and confused. "So I started walking. I lost my wand somewhere but I didn't care so long as I kept walking. I ended up here in London after a few days and I've been walking around here ever since."

Tears rolled down Ron's face as Lavender fell asleep in his arms from sheer exhaustion. Mrs. Weasley silently walked up behind her youngest son and laid a comforting hand on his neck. Looking up over his shoulder, Ron could only nod as he laid Lavender back down on the couch and stood up slowly. Turning to his mother, Ron suddenly wrapped his arms tightly around the stout little woman and buried his head in the crook of her neck. Hermione stood behind him and rubbed his shoulders as Ron cried softly.

It was seeing Ron cry that made Harry's rage slowly fade away. There had only ever been a handful of times that Harry had ever seen his best mate cry and seeing it now made him feel very sad. Turning to Ginny, Harry hugged her tightly and let his own tears fall as he comforted the woman he loved and could not bear to lose as Lavender had lost her family.

"Harry, dear," Mrs. Weasley said softly as she let Hermione take her place with Ron. "Help me get this poor girl upstairs so we can get her cleaned up and in bed. Ginny, come give me a hand."

Harry nodded and kissing Ginny softly, he stood up and once again picked up Lavender in his arms. He was shocked at how light she felt and he realized that she had probably not eaten a decent meal in ages. Following Mrs. Weasley up the stairs to the large bathroom on the second floor Harry felt a deep sadness welling up inside him.

"Harry," Mrs. Weasley said in a businesslike tone of voice, "stand her up here next to the tub and hold her there. She's too heavy for me or Ginny to move around so close your eyes and keep them closed till I say so. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Harry said shutting his eyes tightly.

Ginny and Mrs. Weasley quickly undressed the young woman as they ran warm water in the tub. Harry heard Mrs. Weasley crying softly at one point and Ginny letting out a gasp of surprise but the two women said nothing until they were done and Harry had lifted Lavender up and into the large tub of steaming water.

"You did a fine job, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said finally. "Now it's up to us so you get out of here and go check on Ron and Hermione while we get this girl cleaned up.

Without thinking Harry opened his eyes to look down at Mrs. Weasley. What he saw made him wish that he had kept them closed. The fact that Lavender lay naked in the water was completely unimportant to Harry. What shocked him and brought more tears to his eyes were the four blood red wounds that stretched from Lavender's left collar bone, down across her breasts and over her belly. They looked even worse because of the obvious signs of infection that spread out from them.

"Oh, God," Harry moaned as he turned away. "Can you do anything about those wounds, Mrs. Weasley?"

"They are cursed wounds just like Bill's," she said sadly. "The best we can do is clean them up and take care of the infection for now."

"I'll send Hermione up with some dittany," Harry said leaving the room so the two Weasley women could take care of Lavender.

Harry hurried downstairs but could not find Hermione or Ron. Walking down to the kitchen he grabbed the bottle of dittany he kept there before stopping and grabbing a brand new set of pajamas out of one of the bags that Hermione had dropped by the door when she arrived. With both items in hand, he headed back to the bathroom and knocked on the now closed door.

"Yes," said Ginny's voice.

"I don't know where Ron and Hermione are so I grabbed the dittany and some clothes for Lavender to wear."

Ginny cracked the door open and took the items from Harry with a sad smile. Harry waited by the door until the women were done drying and dressing Lavender before Mrs. Weasley called him back into the room so that he could carry the still sleeping girl to one of the unused bedrooms. Ginny pulled back the sheets so that he could lay Lavender down and then cover her.

Mrs. Weasley left the room for a moment but quickly returned carrying the tray that Kreacher had brought them earlier. After instructing Ginny to slowly feed Lavender the soup, Mrs. Weasley motioned for Harry to follow her out into the hallway.

"Alright, tell me what happened," Mrs. Weasley said as she closed the door behind them.

Harry told Mrs. Weasley about how they had found Lavender and brought her back to Grimmauld Place when she fainted. Then he told her what Lavender had said about her family. He could see tears fighting to fall from her eyes as he told the Weasley matriarch the news that Lavender's family was all dead but she held them back.

"I see," she said finally. "I'll contact a Healer I know at St. Mungo's to come have a look at her. After that we'll just have to wait and see how the poor dear does."

"Yes, ma'am," Harry said trying to sound calmer then he felt.

"Call me Mum or Molly, Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said patting his arm. "You are just as much my son as if I had given birth to you myself. Only Percy calls me 'ma'am' or 'mother' and although I love him dearly, it does make me feel rather old."

"Yes, Mum," Harry said with a weak smile as he started to cry.

Molly Weasley, the eternal mother figure, pulled Harry into her arms as she patted his back and crooned, "There, there, Harry dear. Mummy will make it all better."


	11. Lavender Again

LAVENDER AGAIN 

Mrs. Weasley had effectively moved in to Grimmauld Place so she could look after Lavender. For her part, Lavender only seemed to leave her room to go to the bathroom before retreating back to her bed. Harry stopped by to see her as often as he could but having started his Auror training, his time was limited. Ron was in the same situation but he seemed to take his visits to Lavender as a duty that he was honor bound to make the most of.

Ginny spent as much time as possible helping her mother take care of their new houseguest, but it was Hermione that surprised them all by sitting for hours with Lavender and doing her best to cheer her up. When she was not sitting with Lavender or at the Ministry working on her internship with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Hermione was visiting various magical libraries doing research for some project that she refused to talk to anyone about.

Grimmauld Place soon became a bustle of activity as all the Weasleys stopped by on a regular basis and evening meals were always served promptly at six o'clock. Kreacher was the perfect assistant for Mrs. Weasley, and they were soon on the best of terms as they each shared cooking secrets while preparing meals. Harry was surprised at the continuing transformation that Kreacher seemed to be undergoing. It was hard for Harry to imagine the aged house elf as the same being that had once betrayed Sirius to Lord Voldemort.

"Master Harry," Kreacher said one night after Harry had arrived home from his training. "I am sorry for the way I treated you in the past."

"No worries, Kreacher," Harry said feeling slightly embarrassed. "We all do things we regret."

"You are a good and kind master to Kreacher," said the house elf with a gentle smile. "I am proud to serve you."

"Thanks, Kreacher."

The ancient house elf walked away as Harry climbed the stairs to visit with Lavender so Mrs. Weasley could prepare dinner. He contemplated the changes that had affected so many of the people, and even creatures, in his life since May of that year. As he approached Lavender's door he could hear voices from inside. Harry did not want to eavesdrop on the conversation but the voices were loud enough, and the door cracked, so he could not help overhearing what was being said.

"What man will ever want me now," asked Lavender's sobbing voice.

"Only a fool would let a few scars stop him from seeing what a wonderful young woman you are," replied Mrs. Weasley in a soothing tone. "The scars will fade in time and you'll feel better about yourself."

Not wanting to pry, Harry started to walk back towards the steps but a creaking floorboard gave him away and he heard Mrs. Weasley say, "Harry, is that you dear?"

Harry turned back towards the door and put his best innocent face on before walking into the bedroom to greet the two women inside. Lavender was lying in bed but she looked remarkably better then she had when they had found her. Mrs. Weasley had been feeding her and making Lavender take care of herself so that now she looked more like her old self then the ragged specimen she had been in that dirt alley.

"Evening, Mum," Harry said cheerfully as he walked over to kiss Mrs. Weasley's cheek. "Wotcher, Lavender."

"Hello, Harry," Lavender said looking down at her lap.

"Hello, Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said with a pleased smile. "How was training today?"

"Brilliant! We covered the basic healing spells and a few of the more advanced ones as well," he answered as he took his usual seat next to Lavender's bed.

"That's wonderful, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said with a smile but her eyes darted to Lavender before giving Harry a meaningful glance.

"You look much better, Lavender," Harry said catching the older woman's meaning.

"Yeah, right," said Lavender sounding more than a little skeptical.

"It's true, dear," Mrs. Weasley added in an attempt to cheer the depressed young woman.

Looking up at them with a wild anger in her eyes, Lavender reached up quickly and ripped open the front of her nightgown to show them both the angry looking wounds on her chest. Harry quickly averted his eyes with a blush already forming on his face. Tears came to his eyes as he thought about the pain the young woman must be suffering with wounds like that.

"See," Lavender said defiantly to Mrs. Weasley, "he can't even look at me!"

"Well Lavender," Mrs. Weasley said pulling Lavenders nightgown closed, "that might have more to do with the fact that Harry is a gentleman more than anything else."

"Sure he is but he's a man as well and I can tell when a man doesn't like what he sees," the young girl said as she started to cry. "My whole family is gone and now I'll never have a family of my own because I'm so hideous."

Swallowing hard, Harry turned back towards Lavender and shook his head slowly saying, "You are far from hideous, Lavender. Your wounds might be, but that is only skin deep. You are still beautiful inside. If I turned away it was because I felt it was the decent thing to do rather than to stare at your chest. It had nothing to do with who you are, or even your wounds, it was just dumb noble me trying to do the right thing for a good friend of mine."

Lavender let that sink in for a moment before she jumped off the bed and flung herself into Harry's lap, clinging tightly to him like a child as she began weeping again. Looking up at the door as he tried to comfort the crying woman, Harry saw Hermione and Ginny standing there with tears in their eyes. Ginny looked at Harry and he could see that she was slightly jealous of Lavender, but that she understood the Lavender's need for someone to make her feel safe. There was no mistaking her meaning when she suddenly pointed to the ring on her finger and mouthed, "You're mine."

"Ginny," Mrs. Weasley said suddenly. "What is that on your finger?"

Blushing deeply, Ginny motioned for her mother to follow her out into the hallway, which her mother did almost at a run. Harry continued to hold on to Lavender as she quickly drenched his shirt with her tears. Hermione walked over to sit down on the foot of the bed and watch her adopted brother with Lavender.

Eventually Harry realized that the crying girl had fallen asleep in his arms. Lifting her as gently as he could, Harry slipped her back under the covers as Hermione held them up for him. Hermione quickly repaired the torn nightgown as Harry turned his back once again. Lavender might not currently care about her own modesty, but Harry did not feel it was his place to take advantage of it. When Hermione was done, she pulled Harry away from the bed so she could talk to him.

"Harry," Hermione said very quietly, "are you alright?"

"She just rather shocked me is all," he said looking over at the sleeping girl. "It hurts to see her like this."

"Well I have might have something that will help but I need to ask you something," she said pulling Harry further from the bed.

Harry was a bit puzzled by Hermione's apparent desire for Lavender to hear them but he played along. Touching his wand, Harry cast the Muffliato charm around them.

"Do you know where they took Professor Snape's things," Hermione asked with the same look on her face that she had formerly worn when looking for a book in the Hogwarts library.

"Kingsley told me that most of Snape's things were given to Hogwarts. A few journals and such are in a trunk in my room because he thought I might like them," he added as an afterthought.

Without saying a further word, Hermione was out the door and headed for Harry's room. Harry could only chuckle as she stormed up the stairs past a blushing Ginny and her mother. Ginny looked up at him curiously but he could only shrug his shoulders in bafflement.

"Harry," Mrs. Weasley said finally. "What in the world has gotten into that girl?"

"No idea, Mum," Harry said as he stepped behind Ginny and wrapped his arms around her waist. "She's got something burning in her right now and if I know Hermione, she's not going to tell us what it is until she finds the answer she's looking for."

An hour later Harry discovered how right he had been. Hermione had rummaged through all of Snape's books in a frantic need to find something that only she knew had to be there. When she finally came down for dinner she looked just like she had so many times at Hogwarts when a book from the library provided her with an answer she was seeking. Everyone in the kitchen, including Mr. Weasley who had arrived on minutes before, was surprised to see the positive glow to Hermione's face.

"It's all right here, Harry," she said placing three old and dusty books down in front of him. "Professor Snape had the answer all along and no one knew it."

"Answer to what, Hermione," Ron asked as he finished his third helping of potatoes.

"Harry told us that after he used that horrible spell on Draco Malfoy that Snape had healed him almost instantly," she said breathlessly as she sat down next to Ron and kissed his cheek. "Well the Sectumsempra curse is most definitely Dark magic."

"So," Harry asked feeling a bit confused.

"Think about it, Harry," Hermione said in her most smug tone of voice. "Wounds created by Dark magic and curses have never been able to be healed properly, yet Professor Snape did just that when Draco was injured."

"Yeah but he had created that spell," Ginny said as she cleared away the dirty plates.

"Exactly," Hermione said practically jumping out of her seat. "Harry, read that top book where I marked it."

Glancing down at the small black book Harry opened it to the marked page. The book was in the same handwriting as Harry's old potions text book. He smiled at the memory of all the help that the Half-Blood Prince had been and he regretted now that he could not thank the author properly for teaching him so well.

"After being lectured by Lily about my Levicorpus spell," Harry read out loud, "I have created a gentler way to void the jinx than Finite Incantatem. She just drones on about how all my spells should have a counter spell that doesn't harm the 'victim'. To that end I have created Liberacorpus. This will release the subject with less explosive results and will, maybe, get Lily to talk to me again."

"You see," Hermione said in an excited voice that was several octaves higher than usual. "He started creating spells that could be reversed, to make your mother happy."

"Ok," Harry said still not seeing where she was headed with this.

"Read the next book," the excited young witch said, pointing at the next book.

Sighing, Harry picked up the next book and opened it to the marked page. The hand writing in this book looked a bit stronger, as if a few years had passed between its writing and the previous books.

"The problem with healing a wound created by the Dark Arts is the amount of power that it requires. A normal injury can be healed very easily because there is no force trying to counter it. In the case of a curse, the healing process is retarded almost to a standstill because the lingering curse is continually trying to maintain its original intent.

"I have yet to perfect a spell to purge the effects of a curse on a wound but I have stumbled across another discovery. While waiting for Lily last night I finally perfected my cutting curse, Sectumsempra. With this curse I can cut nearly any substance, including my enemies. The spell seems to be most powerful when I focus upon it. I have since discovered that with it I can make a mere scratch on the surface of my target, or slice it cleanly in half.

"Potter better watch himself the next time he decides to pick a fight with me. In the meantime, I can't wait to show Lily my newest discovery after our Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. exam today."

Harry sat the book down with dawning comprehension but it was Mrs. Weasley that spoke first.

"I've never heard of a spell that could heal a curse wound so Severus must never have discovered it," she said with clear conviction in her voice.

"I don't know about that, Molly," Mr. Weasley said leaning back in his chair. "Severus was trying to blend in with the Death Eaters. A spell like that would have shown that he was most definitely not the type that they wanted around. Voldemort would have recognized Severus' creation right away."

"Well that's all fine and good," Ginny said as she slipped into Harry's lap. "What good does it do us if Snape never did discover a spell like that."

"BUT HE DID," Hermione said as she finally did jump up from her chair and grab the final book.

"I did it," Hermione read excitedly. "After all of these long and lonely years, I did it. Maybe it was seeing those eyes again that inspired me. It had been so very long since I had seen them. That they looked at me from out of HIS face means very little to me, they were HER eyes that I saw looking at me from the Gryffindor table as I talked to Quirrell tonight.

"As soon as I reached my room I suddenly knew what I was doing wrong. It was as if she were whispering the answer in my ear as I sat at my desk. How obvious it all seems to me now but as always, she was my gentlest muse. Purgetfini Semper requires a great deal of focus and power to work, but it does work. I tested it on a Transfigured beaker and after using Sectumsempra on the creature, I was able to completely remove the curse and then heal the wounds normally. A light application of dittany should ensure there is no lasting scaring."

The room looked stunned after hearing what Hermione had just read to them. A spell that healed cursed wounds was the most sought after spell in the wizarding world. Now it turned out that Snape had been sitting on it for seven years and no one had known. No one might have ever known if it had not been for Hermione because Harry doubted he ever would have opened that trunk or the books inside it.

"Don't you see," Hermione said with a smile so bright that it nearly blinded them all. "With this spell we can cure Lavender, Bill, and George. Not to mention anyone else that has ever been cursed so badly that they couldn't be healed properly."

Harry understood. Without a word he pulled out his wand and pointed it at the remnants of the ham they had eaten for dinner that night before thinking, "_Sectumsempra_."

A gash suddenly appeared in the ham and Harry looked at Mrs. Weasley questioningly. Mrs. Weasley instantly stood up and tried several healing spells on the ham before shaking her head. Harry pointed his wand back at the ham and this time thought, "_Purgetfini Semper_."

This time Mrs. Weasley managed to heal the ham on the first try. The room was suddenly filled with cheers and happy laughter as they all took turns hugging Hermione for finding Snape's last gift to the world.

"Come on," Harry said suddenly.

Sitting Ginny down on her feet and pulling her by the hand behind him. He nearly flew up the stairs to Lavender's room. Bursting in he found her curled up on the bed picking at the food that Mrs. Weasley had brought up to her.

"Lavender," he said with a wild grin on his face. "We want to try something if you will let us."

"What, Harry," she said looking very confused.

"I don't want to tell you yet, but just trust me, OK?"

"Of course, Harry," Lavender replied instantly.

"Then close your eyes," Harry said with a gentle smile as Lavender did as she was asked.

With Mrs. Weasley standing on one side and Ginny on the other, Harry reached out to the young woman and pulled the neck of her nightgown to the side so that he could see her wounds. Then Harry pointed his wand at Lavender's chest and thought, "_Purgetfini Semper_."

Nodding to Mrs. Weasley to try healing Lavender's wounds, Mrs. Weasley used the same spell that had worked a few moments earlier. After a moment the Weasley matriarch shook her head sadly.

"Great power and concentration, Harry," Ginny whispered.

Harry nodded to the woman he loved and then closed his eyes. Focusing only on healing the young woman in front of him, Harry repeated the spell and felt a great rush of cool clean air ruffle his hair. Opening his eyes, Harry watched as Mrs. Weasley cast the healing spell again. To everyone's amazement, the wounds suddenly lost their blood red hue and slowly sealed and faded.

"Get the dittany," Harry yelled out the door to where the others were waiting. Hermione rushed in a moment later and closed the door behind her.

Harry turned around and closed his eyes as Mrs. Weasley instructed Lavender to unfasten her nightgown so she could apply the dittany. A moment later, Lavender was squealing in delight as she looked down and saw that her horrible wounds were gone. It was with some surprise that Harry suddenly found a half dressed girl hugging him tightly.

"Lavender," Ginny said very calmly. "Before you go thanking my fiancé, would you mind putting some clothes on?"


	12. Family

FAMILY 

The change in Lavender over the next few days was nothing short of astounding. Although she still did not want to leave Grimmauld Place, and was prone to crying at a moment's notice, she seemed to be taking a little more joy in just being alive. Mrs. Weasley had returned to the Burrow but still brought all the Weasleys with her every night for meal time. Harry found all of this to his liking as each day seemed to bring his ever growing adopted family closer together.

Another set of changes also started at about that time. They started out very quietly but it was only a day or so before they filled the front page of the _Daily Prophet._ It had all started out with Harry informing Kingsley of Professor Snape's discovery and the miraculous cure that it had enabled. Within a matter of days, the wizarding world was praising Snape's name as one of the greatest wizards of the age as magical hospitals around the world were filled with people seeking cures for cursed wounds. Previously incurable patients suddenly found themselves completely fit and healthy.

That was the least of the blessings Snape's work brought about. Quite by accident, an overworked healer in an American hospital cast Snape's spell on a small child that had been recently attacked by a werewolf. The healer had only intended to use the spell to cure the horrible scars that the attack had left the boy with. He would later say that the spell seemed to take a bit more out of him then normal but the wounds were immediately healed and no one gave a further thought to it. That night when the young boy failed to transform at the full moon his parents feared that the child was even sicker then they had imagined. The child's parents immediately rushed him back to the hospital and to their great surprise, the boy's lycanthropy had been completely cured by that one accidental spell.

"Poor Remus," Ginny said after the news of the cure was made public. "If only he had lived to see this day."

"He sees it, Gin," Harry said hugging her tightly as a tear trickled down his cheek.

Just four days after Lavender's amazing cure, Kingsley announced on the wireless that treatment for any werewolves seeking the cure would be free. By that afternoon, most of Great Britain's werewolf population was making their way to wizarding hospitals around the country. Some refused the treatment, but by that night over ninety percent of the werewolf population of the UK was sleeping peacefully during a full moon for the first time in years.

Bill and George showed up a week after Lavender's cure to thank Harry and a very embarrassed Hermione. George sported a brand new ear that he could not help but show off to anyone he saw, including Kreacher. Bill was a bit more subdued but was nonetheless extremely happy to finally be rid of the scars he had carried since his attack. Harry found Mrs. Weasley and Fleur's reaction a bit embarrassing as both women covered his face in kisses in their excitement.

"I don't know why they are thanking me," Harry said to Ginny after she pulled him away from Fleur's exuberant thanks. "It was Hermione that found the spell and Professor Snape that created it."

Ginny just proceeded to cover his face in even more kisses, not that Harry minded this time. Harry could not help remembering that the following day was Ginny's birthday. Everyone would be gathering at the Burrow, including Lavender, who had finally agreed to attend on the condition that she could floo directly there. Further thoughts of the party were pushed from Harry's mind as Ginny's kisses took a more serious turn and Harry spent a very nice hour snogging his girlfriend senseless.

The following morning dawned bright and sunny and Harry and the other residents of Grimmauld Place made their way to the Burrow for the celebration. Harry was almost as excited about seeing some of the guests that would be coming to the party as he was by one very special guest. Andromeda had agreed to come to the party and would be bringing Teddy with her.

"Hermione," Harry said to the bushy haired witch as he cleared the kitchen table of dishes. "Can you take Lavender to the Burrow?"

"Thank you, Master Harry," Kreacher said taking the dishes and dunking them in the sink full of soapy water to wash them.

"Sure, Harry," Hermione said with a smile as she turned to Lavender. "You don't mind, do you?"

"No, that's fine, Hermione," replied Lavender with a sad smile.

"Stop that," Ron said absently to Lavender. "You know the rules. No sad faces at the kitchen table unless it has to deal with Kreacher not making enough meat pies."

"If Master's friend ate like a normal person and not like a troll, I might be able to make enough," Kreacher whispered to Harry in a conspiratorial tone.

"I completely agree," Harry said with a wink to the very busy house elf before turning back to the others and saying, "I want to go to Diagon Alley and pick up a present for Teddy. Not to mention a present or three for Ginny."

With a cough that sounded remarkably like, "whipped," Ron stood up and sounding rather rehearsed said, "mind if I tag along with?"

"Sure," Harry said with a smile that only marginally looked innocent.

"Act like you don't notice that they are up to something, Lavender," Hermione said in a stage whisper.

"Should we tell them that we are far too clever to fall for that," asked Lavender in her own stage whisper.

"No," Hermione replied, "we wouldn't want to hurt their feelings."

"Oh funny," Ron said pulling Hermione to her feet and wrapping his arms around her tightly. "You're still a know-it-all, love."

"You're still a git, dear," Hermione said with a wicked grin as she surprised them all by grabbing Ron's bum. "But you are MY git, and don't you forget it."

"Not a chance," Ron said with a smile as he lifted Hermione up off the ground to better kiss her.

The kiss they shared was so passionate that Lavender and Harry both felt the need to leave the room. It was several minutes before Ron joined them in the parlor, Hermione right behind him. Harry covered his mouth to hide his grin as he watched Hermione quickly straighten her blouse before stepping out from behind Ron.

"Ok," Hermione said in her regular tone of voice. "Lavender and I will meet you at the Burrow. Don't take too long because Mrs. Tonks will be there around eleven o'clock with Teddy."

"Oh lighten up, Hermione," Ron said with a chuckle. "Harry wouldn't miss a visit with Teddy any more than he would a chance to snog my sister. Not if he was smart at any rate."

"Oi," Harry barked, waving at his two friends. "I'm sitting right here you know."

"Yes you are, Harry," Lavender said standing and walking towards the hearth, "but you should never let things like that interrupt when you are talking about a good friend."

Giggling, Hermione followed Lavender to the hearth and with two bright flashes of green fire, they were gone.

"Is it just me," Ron said shaking his head, "or are we really getting to be outnumbered around here?"

"Too right," Harry said laughing. "Between those two, and Ginny when she's here, we're buggered."

The two friends broke out laughing as the apparated to Diagon Alley. Ron had a special stop that he wanted to make by himself so Harry made his way to Quality Quidditch Supplies. Harry remembered that Sirius many years before had bought him a toy broom when he was a baby and for some reason, that seemed like the perfect gift for little Teddy. Maybe they would turn it into some sort of tradition of a godfather giving his godson a toy broom.

A quarter of an hour later, Harry walked out back out into Diagon Alley with a small slender package that he felt sure Teddy would love, and Andromeda would dread. Chuckling softly to himself, Harry made his way towards Madam Malkin's when he spotted something in the window of Eeylops Owl Emporium. At first he thought it was a trick of the light but then Harry saw it again. A cage in the window seemed to be holding a jet black owl, the likes of which Harry had never seen before.

"Excuse me," Harry said poking his head in the door. "Can you tell me anything about the black owl in the window?"

A very short wizard that looked more like a own then a man turned and beamed at Harry through glasses so thick that they made Professor Trelawney's look dainty by comparison. The little man quickly made his way over to Harry and ushered him in to the store.

"Oh he's a real hoot," said the owlish man. "Get it? Hoot?"

Harry could not help but grin at the strange little man.

"That there is the only black owl I've seen while working here," said the strange little wizard. "We got him in just last night and he made quite a racket until I put him in the window this morning. Since then he's just seemed to be waiting for someone."

As if to confirm the clerks comment, the black owl suddenly hooted very loudly. Harry turned to look at the owl and realized that it was looking directly at him with its large golden eyes. There was something a little unsettling about the owl but at the same time, something very familiar.

"He really seems taken with you, Mister…"

"Oh," Harry said absent mindedly. "Potter."

"Blimey! Not Harry Potter?" asked the strange little wizard in awe. "I don't have very good eyes so forgive me for not recognizing you, sir."

"Please," Harry said turning back to the strange man. "Just call me Harry or if you have to, Mr. Potter. Might I ask your name, sir?"

"No need to go calling me sir, Mr. Potter," said the little wizard sounding extremely honored. "My name is Martin Archer but everyone calls me Archie."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Archie," Harry said shaking the little man's hand.

Harry was a little shocked at what he was thinking of doing. Hedwig had been one of his closest companions for so long and since he had lost her, Harry had never even considered replacing her. Yet something about this strange black owl seemed to resonate with Harry.

"What type of owl is he, Archie?" Harry asked walking over to take a closer look at the black owl.

"Well with the exception of his coloring," Archie said standing next to Harry, "I would say he was the same breed as a snowy owl. Although, as I said before, I've never seen his like before so I can't really say."

"I'll take him," was out of Harry's mouth before he even realized he had made the decision.

After paying for the owl and purchasing several packages of owl treats, Harry was standing back out in Diagon Alley carrying his new owl's cage. Normally Harry would have expected the owl to be asleep during the day but the black bird was looking up at him from his cage with an almost expectant air about him.

"I had another owl," Harry said looking down at the bird in the cage. "I named her after a famous witch so I think it only fitting that I name you after a famous wizard. Don't you think?"

To Harry's surprise the black owl seemed to consider that for a moment before hooting softly in agreement.

"Well I only know one wizard I would like to name you after. How do you like the name Wulfric," Harry asked the bird.

The black owl hooted in what Harry took as agreement before tucking his head under his wing and promptly falling asleep.

"I'll take that as a yes then, shall I," Harry said chuckling and making his way to the next store on his list.

Harry just managed to finish all of his shopping and make it back to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in time to meet up with Ron. The youngest Weasley son was looking rather proud of himself as he walked into his brother's store with another young man in tow. At first Harry did not recognize the man that Ron was talking to. He was tall, although not as tall as Ron, and he carried himself in a very self assured manner that exuded confidence. Then the man turned to smile at Harry and it all clicked into place.

"Neville," Harry said hoping he did not sound as shocked as he felt.

"Hi, Harry," Neville said walking over and shaking Harry's hand firmly. "Been a while since I saw you last. Nice owl."

Harry was slightly confused by the change in Neville but then he realized that his old friend had gone through a lot in his last year at Hogwarts. It looked as if Neville had finally left behind his old insecurities and finally grown into the man that his Gran had always wanted him to be. No longer was he the short chubby boy that used to run in fear from Draco and his cronies. The Neville that stood in front of Harry now was the man that had led the revolt at Hogwarts and had killed Nagini without a second thought.

"Yeah," Harry said after a moment. "I guess the last time we saw each other was back in May at the memorial service. Oh, and his name is Wulfric."

"I was just inviting Neville to Gin's birthday party," Ron said stepping up beside the two men and giving the owl a look of approval. "Figure Gin would love to see him and what's a party without lots of people?"

"I think that's a brilliant idea, Ron," Harry said smiling at his best friend. "What do you say, Neville?"

"Sounds great to me if you don't think it'll be a bother," Neville agreed with a boyish grin.

"Not at all, mate," Ron chuckled. "My mum loves to mother everyone and seeing you will just give her someone new to take care of."

Laughing, all three men made their way to the back of the store and up the stairs to George's apartment. George had actually been staying at the Burrow since his return from Hogwarts, but he had given Harry and Ron keys to it just in case they needed a bit of "private time." So far, only Ron and Hermione had taken him up on the offer. The fireplace was directly connected to the Burrow so it made it much easier to get there when carrying a large number of parcels.

"Where's the birthday girl?" Ron bellowed as he stepped out of the fireplace a moment after Harry did.

The answer to that question came right as Neville stepped out of the fireplace and ran directly into Lavender as she and Ginny walked into the kitchen. Harry was reminded suddenly of the day he bought his wand from Mr. Ollivander. He had tried so many wands that his arm hurt, and then he had found just the right one and sparks had flown. The look between Lavender and Neville was just like that, and sparks were definitely flying.

"Hi, Nev," Lavender said blushing and looking down at her shoes.

"Hello, Lavender," was all Neville said but the way in which he said it made Lavender blush even more.

"Neville," Ginny screamed as she hugged him tightly before letting him go and playfully slapping him on the arm. "Where have you been? You haven't answered any of my owls since we got home."

Neville managed to tear his eyes away from Lavender long enough to give Ginny a sheepish grin. Harry was in complete shock at what he was seeing. In all the time that he had known Neville, Harry had never known him to so openly admire a young woman, let alone look at one with such open interest.

"Sorry about that, Ginny," Neville said with a shrug. "I was trying to get Gran's place fixed up after the Death Eater's wrecked the place. Then I had to get a flat in Hogsmeade since I'll be working at Hogwarts with Professor Sprout next year. It's been a bloody nightmare taking care of all that and I guess I just lost track of time."

Harry was keeping silent as he set Wulfric's cage down next to Errol's. Amazingly, Lavender could not take her eyes off Neville. Glancing over at Ginny, Harry noticed that when she sat down at the kitchen table, she sat across from Neville at the end of the table, leaving the chair at the very end empty. It was not empty for very long howeve,r as Lavender blushed again and sat down next to Neville after only an instant's hesitation.

"See what I see, Harry," Ron whispered.

"I see it," Harry said with a slight nod.

"I was just saying to Lavender," Ginny continued, "that it won't be the same for me this year at Hogwarts without out all of you there."

Harry walked over behind his girlfriend and kissed the top of her head before saying, "I would think that would be a good thing considering all the trouble we caused."

"I think we caused a fair bit of trouble as well, Harry," Neville chuckled. "Remember the time we talked Moaning Myrtle into flooding every bathroom in the castle?"

Ron demanded all the details of the story while Harry stepped into the front room to greet Andromeda, who had just arrived with Teddy.

"Hello there little man," Harry said taking Teddy from his grandmother. "You been staying out of trouble?"

Almost in answer to Harry's question, Teddy's hair turned jet black and the child began giggling.

"Harry," Andromeda said with a laugh, "he's just as much of a handfull as his mother was but I think he inherited his father's stubbornness."

Smiling at all the sounds of happiness and joy that sounded around him, Harry just nodded and smiled down at his godson. This was the life he had always wanted. To be surrounded by friends and family. He just wanted to be with them and to know… to know… what the bloody hell that smell was.

"What in God's name is that smell," Harry said looking around at the door before he noticed that Andromeda was doing her best not to burst out laughing.

"I think you will find," gasped the struggling witch, "that Teddy has just greeted you in his own very special way."

"This is not going to end well," Harry thought to himself as he looked down at the angelically smiling and extremely fragrant baby in his arms.


	13. Neville

NEVILLE

Ginny's party had been a great success as far as she was concerned. Her mother and father had gotten her a beautiful watch similar to the one that had given Harry for his seventeenth birthday. George had gotten her a brand new set of dress robes that her mother had helped pick out so they were quite nice. Bill and Fleur's gift was a brand new trunk for school with a Self-Levitating charm so she could carry it easily. Charlie got her a set of Quidditch gloves made specifically for Seekers. Her gift from Ron was Wizard's Chess set of her very own. Hermione had gotten her a book of Chess strategies to go with Ron's gift.

Harry's gifts, for there had been three of them, were the absolute best of the lot. The first gift he had presented her with was a beautiful gold locket with a picture of them standing together outside the Burrow. Engraved on the other half of the locket were her name and Harry's with the message, "Forever and always." Ginny had immediately put the locket on and sworn to him that she would never take it off again.

Her second gift from Harry was quite a shock. Harry had snuck out of the room while she was busy opening Ron's gift and returned a moment later with a long slender package wrapped in plain brown paper. When Ginny opened it she squealed in delight at the sight of the brand new Firebolt that Harry had gotten for her. Ginny sat in awe at the amazing gift and pounced on Harry, covering his face in kisses until Mrs. Weasley coughed to get her attention.

"Since Kingsley returned mine," Harry said as Ginny released him, "I figured you might need one so we could go flying together."

The third gift was given to her after all the others, and was given to her while no one was looking. Harry handed her a plain looking piece of parchment that Ginny instantly recognized as the Marauder's Map. When George walked in and saw her looking at the map, he smiled and gave a nod of approval as Harry explained how to use the map.

"Only fitting that you should have it," George said fondly. "Not that you need it since you cause quite enough trouble on your own without it."

"Watch it, you," Ginny said looking up from the map. "You might be my brother but I can still hex you senseless."

George bowed to her and quickly scurried out of the room as Ginny proceeded to spend several minutes showing Harry just how much she liked her gifts. When she finally broke away from him, Harry was panting slightly and looking a bit frustrated but happy all the same as he made his way over to check on the sleeping Teddy. Ginny loved to watch Harry with his godson. He just seemed to be a natural when it came to taking care of children and it was obvious that Teddy loved all the attention that harry showered upon him.

Now that she was seventeen, Ginny had plans for a certain green-eyed wizard, and they did not include her family treating her like a little girl anymore. In fact, her family had better just get used to the fact that she had her own ideas about what the future held for her.

Pigwidgeon had returned just that morning with Ginny's favorable reply from Professor McGonagall and that gave her room to plan as she washed the dishes by hand that night. She was not sure if she was going to carry out her plans concerning Hogwarts yet, but Professor McGonagall had left the final decision in her hands so Ginny had a lot to think about.

Lavender also seemed to be doing a lot of thinking tonight. Ginny had been surprised to see Lavender's reaction when Neville arrived with Harry and Ron that morning. Glancing through the door to the front room, Ginny could see Neville sitting on the floor nearest the sofa. He, Harry, and Ron were sitting on the floor as Teddy rode his little toy broom in a little circle between the three men. It was so adorable to see the three of them playing with Teddy as the small child giggled at each of them in turn his hair changing to match theirs each time he rode up to one of them. Lavender seemed to notice this as well.

"Lavender," Ginny whispered suddenly. "What's the deal between you and Neville?"

Lavender was so shocked by the question that she nearly dropped the plate she was drying. The look on the poor girl's face told Ginny everything she needed to know. It was the exact same look that Ginny herself used to see in the mirror every time she thought that Harry would never notice her. When Lavender looked up and saw that Ginny understood completely, she could only blush and look down at the plate in her hands.

"Oh," said the redhead in a whisper so only Lavender could hear. "So when did this happen?"

Lavender cast a quick glance over her shoulder at the object of her affection before turning back to Ginny and sighing.

"I think it was the night he rescued me from the Carrows," she said, picking up another dish to dry. "I was terrified as I ran from them and I had just tripped and fallen near the kitchen. Suddenly he stepped out of the shadows in front of me and scooped me up in his arms. At first I thought I was done for, that they had finally caught me but when I looked up he just smiled down at me and said, 'I won't let them hurt you ever again.'"

"Very dashing," Ginny said, sounding impressed. "I didn't know Neville had it in him."

"He changed a lot after you and Luna disappeared," Lavender said with a smile. "He suddenly realized he was in charge and he did his best to protect everyone. I know that before you left he had already been fighting against the Carrows and had suffered the Cruciatus Curse more than any of the rest of us. Before he went into hiding, they were using it on him two and three times a day. I don't know how he stayed sane."

Ginny had not known that about Neville. They had all suffered the Cruciatus a few times before her family hid her away from the Death Eaters but to hear that Neville, sweet and gentle Neville, had suffered it more than any of them was heartbreaking. Ginny had to turn back to washing the dishes so that Lavender did not see the tears that rolled down her cheeks and start crying as well.

"After a day or so in the Room of Requirement," Lavender continued with a rosy blush, "I started to realize that he was going out of his way to make me more comfortable. He modified the room so that there were suddenly boys' and girls' washrooms, just so I could clean up. I was so thrilled when he did it that without thinking about it; I ran up to him and kissed him on the cheek."

"He did that just for you?" Ginny asked feeling new respect for Neville.

"I told myself that he was just doing it because there were a lot of us in the room by then, but I was still the only girl. After that I found myself using any excuse I could find to be near him," said the ferociously blushing girl as Ginny handed her another plate to dry. "I kept thinking about how he used to be so timid but how he was suddenly the bravest and kindest man I had ever met. He was suddenly the perfect example of a Gryffindor, strong and brave but still so very gentle and kind."

Ginny nodded as she washed the last dish and sat it in the rinse water before looking back at Lavender and whispering, "So what else happened?"

Lavender giggled and whispered back, "I woke up early one morning and saw him walking out of the loo with only his trousers on. He had always been a bit chubby before but evidently living hard and always being on the run had really done wonders for him. He just looked at me and said, 'Morning' with this smile on his face that made him look so sexy that I couldn't believe he was the same boy that Draco used to pick on all the time."

Both girls started giggling even harder. They snuck glances over at the topic of their conversation but he seemed to be enthralled by Teddy and his little toy broom. Lavender smiled even wider as she saw the happy expression on Neville's face.

"That's when I noticed that he was finding all sorts of reasons for me to help him with things and that was also when he started calling me 'Lav'," continued Lavender with a wistful smile. "At first it wasn't anything important, but eventually he had me helping to take care of the younger kids and working with Aberforth to sneak them out of the castle. That last night we were sitting and talking about how we needed to get more food when Ariana arrived to summon him. Neville turned to me before he left and said, 'I don't know how long I'll be but I really want to talk to you when I get back, will you wait for me?'"

Ginny was smiling from ear to ear and could not help but ask, "And what did you say?" Lavender blushed even brighter as she looked back down at her hands before speaking. "I told him I would wait as long as it took," Lavender said, looking up at Ginny. "Then I told him to hurry back and I called him 'Nev'. Then I might have kissed him."

"Might have?" Ginny asked, chuckling.

"Ok," Lavender said, sounding slightly defensive. "So I kissed him. It doesn't really matter that much now. Everything went wrong for us that night. Don't get me wrong, I'm as thrilled as the next person to see Voldemort gone, but so many things happened that night."

"We all suffered that night," Ginny said, looking out the kitchen window.

Unnoticed by Ginny, Lavender rubbed her chest where her wounds had been before nodding in agreement.

"Yes we did," Neville said from the doorway behind them. "We lost good friends that night. I still wonder if the price for our freedom wasn't too high."

Lavender and Ginny nearly jumped out of their skins when Neville spoke. The fright worked out well for Lavender because it hid her blush as she turned around to scold the young man that had just frightened her. Ginny could see Lavender stop in her tracks though as she looked at Neville.

"Some of us," Neville said looking at Lavender with a sad expression, "lost a lot more than others."

Ginny watched all the color drain from Lavender's face as the young woman started to cry again. Neville saw it as well and before Ginny could say or do anything, Neville had the weeping girl in his arms. He was so gentle with Lavender as he held her tightly to his chest. At first Lavender seemed to want to fight against him but after a moment she wrapped her arms around his waist and cried even harder.

Harry, having heard Lavender crying, rushed into the room with Teddy in his arms. Looking slightly confused, he looked at Ginny for an explanation of why Neville was holding Lavender as she sobbed. Ginny held a finger to her lips and stepped over to where he stood as they both watched the strange pair standing there.

"I know what happened to your family, Lav," Neville said softly. "When I found out you were missing I asked around till I found someone that knew where your family lived. I told my gran that I had to check on something and then I ran to the gates of Hogwarts and Apparated to your house. I called the Aurors when I found your family."

"I couldn't even do that for them," Lavender said in a watery voice. "I just ran away."

"It's ok, Lav," Neville said, lifting her chin so she could see his face. "I was just worried about you. I've been looking for you ever since. That's what I was doing today when I bumped into Ron. I was talking to as many people as possible to see if any of them had seen you."

"You were looking for me?" questioned the young woman sounding rather confused. "Why were you doing that?"

"Two reasons, really," Neville said, finally letting go of Lavender and walking over to his travelling cloak.

Reaching inside the cloak, Neville pulled out a long slender lavender-colored silk bag. Gently handing it to her, Neville sat down on a chair in front of her and scooped Lavender up onto his lap. Surprisingly, Lavender immediately stopped crying and blushed slightly, but she did not try to stop him. In fact, from the look on her face, Lavender was happier at that moment than she had been in ages.

Opening the bag Lavender let out a gasp of surprise as she pulled her wand out of the bag. She had lost it the night she had returned home and since then she had not thought twice about it. Now here it was being returned by the man that she had assumed had forgotten all about her after the final battle.

"Where did you find it?" she asked.

"It was on the front lawn of your house," he said smiling at her. "I picked it up and vowed to return it to you as soon as I found you."

"Thank you, Nev," Lavender said excitedly and before Neville could say anything, she kissed him.

"That's the other reason I was looking for you," Neville said when Lavender let go of his lips. "I had wanted to talk to you the night of the final battle but we never got the chance. See, I have a question I was meaning to ask you."

"What question is that?" asked Lavender hopefully.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to be my girl," Neville said with a confident air about him. "I understand if you don't…"

Whatever Neville had been about to say was cut off as Lavender kissed him so fiercely that Ginny dragged Harry out of the room. She figured the two of them needed a little privacy now. Looking up at Harry with the sleeping Teddy in his arms, Ginny knew that she had made the right decision regarding her future. Taking the sleeping baby from him and laying the child down in his pram, Ginny turned to the man she loved so much and smiled rather wickedly.

"Have I told you how much I love you today, Mr. Potter?" she asked with a playful gleam in her eyes.

"No, you haven't, Miss Weasley," Harry said, pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her slim waist. "But then again I haven't told you how madly I am in love with you, either."

"Well then, I guess I need to show you," Ginny said with a blazing look on her face as she pulled Harry's face down towards hers.

"I guess you better then," said the raven-haired young man as he kissed her.

Obviously they had forgotten that Ron and Hermione were still in the room with them. Ron was just about to point this out to them when Hermione pulled his face towards hers and clamped her mouth to his. If any of them had cared to check, they would have seen Teddy lying in his pram with his eyes wide open, looking at all of them with a angelic little smile on his face. He may not have known why they were happy, but even a baby can tell when he is surrounded by pure love.

Harry suddenly looked up from snogging his girlfriend and sniffed the air before looking at the small child whose hair had just turned a bright bubblegum pink.

"Not again, Teddy," Harry pleaded as Ginny scrambled to open a window. "What in God's name have you been eating?"


	14. Luna

LUNA 

The days passed quickly after that, too quickly in Harry and Ginny's opinion. Soon it was the night before Ginny's return to Hogwarts for her final year. Neither of them was happy about the idea of being separated for so long but they had agreed that Ginny should complete her education. Ginny had Apparated over to Grimmauld Place for a romantic candlelit dinner that Harry had prepared, with a great deal of help from Kreacher, and eventually they found themselves on one of the couches in the parlor. Curled around each other and talking in whispers, Ginny realized she and Harry were, for the first time in a very long time, completely alone in the immense house.

Ron and Hermione had headed off for George's flat over the store, supposedly cleaning it so that George could move back in the following week. Ginny rather doubted that her brother and his girlfriend were cleaning considering the very fetching outfit that Hermione had been wearing when the couple left. It was good to see Ron and Hermione finally together after so many years of longing for each other silently. Of course Ginny still felt that Ron should have stepped up much sooner but it was the end result that mattered in the end.

Lavender was also out for the evening. Neville had dropped by shortly after Ginny arrived to pick Lavender up for their first official date. They had of course seen each other almost every day since admitting their feelings for each other at Ginny's birthday celebration. Tonight however was to be the very first time that she and Neville had gone out in public together. He had arrived at the door looking very handsome with a single red rose in his hand. After a rather intense snogging session between himself and Lavender, they had been off for a long night of dinner and dancing in Muggle London.

If you were to ask Harry, he was happy with the way things had turned out for all of his housemates. Ron and Hermione were perfect for each other and had been probably from the first moment they met. Harry could still remember that first day on the Hogwarts Express when Hermione had wanted to see Ron perform a bit of magic. The real magic had been the fact that ever since that day, Harry had known deep down that Ron and Hermione were meant for each other, even if he had not really been able to express it back then. Of course if he walked in on them in the bath together one more time, he felt sure he was going to be sick. There were just some things he did not want to know about his friends' private lives.

Then there was Neville and Lavender. If ever there were two people that Harry had never in a million years thought would end up madly in love with each other, then it was those two. To the amazement of everyone around, Neville had become the type of person that people looked up to and respected. Harry had talked with Neville about all the things that Neville had suffered while Harry was finding the last of the Horcruxes. The fact that Neville kept saying that he only did what he knew Harry would have done in the same circumstances made Harry slightly embarrassed. That Neville had just great respect for Harry was both flattering and in Harry's opinion, rather misplaced. Harry felt that if anyone should be respected for his actions, it was Neville.

Lavender seemed to agree with Harry. The fact that Neville had rescued her had been the start of her attraction to him but it had been his actions that caused her to fall in love with him. Neville's growing confidence had given him the courage to put his feelings into words and now they were madly in love with each other. The way that they looked at each other was so raw and yet so tender at the same time. Between her relationship with Neville and the counselor she was seeing at St. Mungo's, Lavender was making great strides towards finding true happiness in her life again. Harry would be very surprised if they were not already talking about marriage and children for some day in the very near future.

"Mr. Potter," Ginny said nibbling on Harry's earlobe. "Your mind is wandering from what you should really be paying attention to."

"Well how rude of me," was Harry's immediate response as he ran a finger lightly over Ginny's thigh.

"Yes it is," sighed Ginny with a slight shiver at Harry's touch. "You had better do something about it, right now."

"Oh I plan on it, Gin," Harry said as he pulled Ginny down to the floor in front of the fireplace and lost himself in her lips.

It was several hours later when he heard the front door open as Lavender sneaked upstairs with Neville that Harry finally roused himself from a peaceful doze. Ginny was laying next to him with her head resting on his chest, looking absolutely beautiful with the firelight dancing on her face and hair. He would have given anything to stay there like that but he knew that if he did not get Ginny home soon, Mrs. Weasley would come looking for her daughter.

"Gin," Harry whispered as he ran a finger down her bare back causing her to stretch like a cat against him.

"Please tell me it's not time already," she said looking up at him with her best pouty face.

"Sorry, Gin," was all he could say looking into her eyes and trying to remember ever detail of them. "If I don't get you home soon, your mum will be over here hexing my bits off."

"Well we wouldn't want that," Ginny said playfully. "I rather like your bits just the way they are."

Harry could feel himself blushing but the look on Ginny's face was so sexy that he barely noticed. Christmas seemed so far away to Harry and the thought that he would be without her all that time was enough to break his heart. No matter how he twisted the facts, this was the way that things had to be for now whether he liked it or not. He could not keep thinking about their separation, not without depressing Ginny as well. With a quick kiss and a playful slap of her bottom, Harry slipped out from under her and grabbed his trousers.

Ginny slowly got up and started to gather her things. Harry loved to watch her like this. She looked incredibly beautiful as she searched for her things. When she reached up to grab her bra off the top of a bookshelf, Harry could not help but notice that she had a tiny patch of freckles in the small of her back.

"You know," Harry said watching her as she slipped into her skirt, "I could spend hours searching for all of your freckles."

"I'll hold you to that one of these days, Mr. Potter," she said coquettishly as she slipped into her skirt. "And if you find my knickers, don't let Ron see them."

"I think they ended up in the fire actually," Harry said glancing at what looked like the charred remains of something cloth in the fireplace.

"Prat," she said slapping his arm playfully. "That was one of my favorite pairs."

"Well you were the one that tore the buttons off my shirt," he said slipping into his jumper.

Ginny looked at the bra in her hands before tossing it in the fire as well before pulling on her jumper and saying, "No good keeping that since it matched the knickers."

"Your mum would go completely mental if she knew you were walking around without them," Harry said taking her in his arms to kiss her gently.

"Yeah," Ginny said when they broke apart, "but just think of all the naughty thoughts that will be going through your head when you think about me without them."

"You're a wicked woman, Ginevra Weasley," Harry said kissing her again.

"And don't you forget it, Harry Potter," she replied with a wink before she broke away and headed for the bathroom to fix her hair.

After several more kisses and a rather cheeky flair of Ginny's skirt, Harry and Ginny apparated to the back yard of the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley gave them a knowing look when they walked into the kitchen that had Harry very hurriedly checking to see if his trainers were tied properly until his face regained its normal color. After a few quick promises on Harry's part to be at Platform 9 ¾ early the next morning, Harry kissed Ginny tenderly and watched her skip up the stairs. For some reason, Harry found it very hard to take his eyes off her skirt as she disappeared up the stairs.

It was difficult for Harry to fall asleep that night, as he was torn between the knowledge that Ginny would be leaving for school the next day and fleeting memories about the night they had just spent together. Eventually Harry managed to catch a few hours of sound sleep before Kreacher woke him up with the smell of fresh tea and breakfast. Making his way downstairs, Harry saw Neville giving Lavender a tender goodbye kiss before he slipped out the front door.

"Well you could have at least invited him to stay for breakfast," Harry teased when Lavender turned and saw him on the stairs.

"He said he had to get back to his flat and get cleaned up before meeting Professor Sprout to get ready for the first day of classes," Lavender said with a slight blush as she headed for the kitchen.

"Well hopefully he won't be so busy that he forgets to visit occasionally," Harry said following after her.

Harry thought he heard her mumble something that sounded remarkably like, "after last night, he bloody well better not."

Meanwhile at the Burrow, Ginny was checking to make sure that the last of her things were packed and ready to go. Being the only Weasley to attend Hogwarts this year had the unfortunate drawback that she had no excuses for forgetting anything. That and the fact that she did not want to be rushed when she said goodbye to Harry at the train station gave her a great deal of motivation to be sure they were at the station on time.

It would be strange to return to Hogwarts without Harry. She understood his reasons for not wanting to return for his seventh year. There were so many bad memories there for him now but there were also good memories. He wanted her to do the thing right, and that meant going back to school no matter how badly he wanted her to stay. Ginny sighed as she realized that although she wanted to be with Harry more than anything, she also wanted to finish her education, not for him but for herself.

So it was that after a delicious breakfast Ginny found herself standing on Platform nine and three quarters, waiting for Harry to arrive. She had already placed her trunk in an empty compartment on the train and now stood tapping her foot impatiently as she waited to catch a glimpse of her boyfriend. Ginny's parents were trying to keep her distracted but they could tell by the fact that she had nearly dragged them out of the house, that Ginny really wanted to see Harry more than she cared about them seeing her off.

Ginny looked around the platform and saw several faces she knew. There were several faces missing from the crowd that she missed a great deal but she tried not to dwell on their absence. She was rather surprised when she saw Luna standing with Dean Thomas in a secluded doorway snogging away happily as if they were not in the middle of a rather large crowd of parents and students.

_Good for them_, she thought with a little smile.

"Hey, Gin," Harry said sneaking up behind her and wrapping an arm around her waist.

"'Bout time you got here," she said turning around to kiss him. "I was starting to think you had forgotten me."

"That boy couldn't forget you if he tried," chuckled Mr. Weasley.

"He's right," Harry said smiling down at her.

Something about the way that Harry looked at her always made Ginny feel like she was the luckiest girl in the world. She was going to miss him looking at her like that while she was gone. What she was not going to miss was the sudden silence that filled the platform as people recognized Harry.

"I can't take you anywhere," Harry joked noticing the silent crowd. "Seems like everywhere we go people are just struck dumb by how beautiful you are."

"What can I say," Ginny laughed, "you got lucky when you found me."

"Yes I did," was all he said before kissing her again.

"You'll write us if you need anything, Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley in a slightly disapproving tone.

"I will, mum," Ginny said with a wink at Harry, "but do you think an owl will be able to deliver Harry?"

"No," Mr. Weasley said laughing hard. "I'm sure that Harry can find his own way there if he feels the need to."

"I'll be there every Hogsmeade weekend and for every Quidditch match," Harry assured her.

Suddenly everyone was making their final goodbyes as the warning whistle sounded. Ginny said goodbye to her parents before dragging Harry with her to the edge of the platform. Kissing him with a desperate need, Ginny felt tears coming to her eyes but Harry kissed them away.

"I'm not going anywhere, Gin," he said reassuringly. "I'll be waiting for you just like you waited for me."

"You better, Mr. Potter," she said kissing him again before she stepped up into the train car with a flair of her skirt that she knew would drive him wild.

"Hope you found your knickers this time," Harry said so only she could hear.

"Oh I found them," Ginny said with an innocent look on her face. "I packed them all in my trunk so I wouldn't lose them."

"All of them," asked Harry with a hungry look on his face.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Mr. Potter," Ginny said with a smile as the train started to move. "Write to me every day?"

"I promise," Harry called as the train pulled away from the station.

Ginny waited until she could no longer see Harry any longer before she made her way to the compartment she had put her trunk in before Harry arrived. It was empty besides her trunk and Ginny found the prospect of traveling to Hogwarts by herself to be rather depressing. She was just about to go in search of someone to talk when the compartment door slid open and Luna drifted in.

"Hello, Luna," Ginny said standing and hugging the dreamy eyed young woman. "How are you?"

"Oh I'm absolute wonderful in a sad yet happy sort of way," Luna said in her usual singsong manner. "I was just wondering what you said to Harry to make him blush so badly as we were leaving the station?"

The blush that covered Ginny's face was the same color as the bright red engine pulling the train. Leave it to Luna to notice something that everyone else missed and to ask about it with no warning. That was probably one of the things that Ginny liked the most about Luna, but sometimes it could really take her by surprise.

"I was just pointing out to him that I had packed very thoroughly and he should remember it," Ginny said still feeling her face burn.

"Oh. I see. I just handed Dean my bra," Luna said absently. "I figured that was a much more direct method of keeping his mind where it belonged while I was away."

Ginny burst out laughing and a moment later, much to her surprise, so did Luna. Luna had never really been one to laugh unless it was at something so abstract that no one else really appreciated it. Yet here she was, laughing and giggling without a care in the world.

"You've changed," Ginny said wiping tears from her eyes.

"Yes," Luna said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I find that being in love has changed my outlook on life a little bit.

"So you and Dean are serious now," Ginny asked.

"Well we are serious for now," said the vague young woman. "I don't know that we will always feel this way but for right now he is a wonderful man and he kisses so divinely."

"You don't think you'll stay with him then?"

"I cannot see the future so I cannot say what will happen in it," Luna said, pulling out a copy of the _Quibbler_ and then tossing it aside. "If you had told me last year that I would be in love with Dean Thomas or that I would no longer believe everything my father tells me, I would have said you were as loony as everyone always says I am."

"What happened with you and your father?" Ginny asked, curious as to what he could have done to make his overly devoted daughter think twice about his crackpot theories.

"After I got home I had a long talk with my father about his actions regarding Harry," Luna said with a hard edge to her voice that Ginny had never heard before. "He tried to blame Harry for destroying our house but I knew that Daddy's actions were the cause of all the damage. We had a row about that and eventually I took a room at the Leaky Cauldron for the remainder of the summer. Dean was nice enough to keep me company for most of my time there."

"I'm sorry to hear you had a hard time of it with your father," Ginny said feeling slightly sorry for Luna.

"Oh it's alright," Luna said looking out the window. "He's still got his paper to keep him company. I'm sure I will forgive him eventually. At least after he grows up a bit."

"Well just remember," Ginny said trying to cheer her friend up, "this is our last year at Hogwarts and Harry gave me his Marauder's Map so we'll be able to have lots of fun exploring the castle."

"It won't be the same without Harry and the others though," Luna said smiling sadly.

Ginny could not really argue with Luna's simple statement. Both girls sat silently for a long time after that and Ginny could not help missing Harry more with every mile that the train covered. Eventually she leaned her head against the window and felt her eyes grow heavy. Drifting off, Ginny dreamed about sun filled days with Harry.

For his part, Harry was sitting at 12 Grimmauld Place thinking about how he was going to fill his days without Ginny. He would be very busy with his Auror training but it was not the same as having Ginny with him. There would of course be Hogsmeade weekends and Quidditch games, not to mention the Christmas holiday, but those all seemed so far away right after saying goodbye to her at the station.

He was just about to go make himself some tea when Harry heard a knock at the door. Wondering who it was, Harry made his way to the door and opened it slowly. Harry was unsure who he had expected to see but the person standing on his stoop was the last person Harry had ever thought would visit his home unless all the demons of hell were chasing them.

"Potter," said the young man standing before him. "I'm glad you're here. I'm in trouble and you're the only one I could think of that might be able to help me."

For a moment or two Harry debated on slamming the door shut but then he sighed and said, "Then I guess you better come in and tell me what's going on, Draco."

**To Be Continued…**


End file.
